Reading 28: Capital Structure and Leverage-LOS f 习题精选 2010, concerning, including, structure

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Session 8: Corporate Finance
Reading 28: Capital Structure and Leverage

LOS f: Discuss the Modigliani-Miller (MM) propositions concerning capital structure, including the impact of leverage, taxes, financial distress, agency costs, and asymmetric information on a company's cost of equity, cost of capital, and optimal capital structure.

 

 

 

Which of the following statements about a firm's capital structure is FALSE?

A) The optimal capital structure is the one that minimizes the weighted average cost of capital and consequently maximizes the value of the firm's share price.

B) If bankruptcy costs were included into the M&M analysis of capital structure in a tax world there would be an optimal capital structure between no debt and all debt.

C) The firm's share price is maximized when the firm maximizes its earnings per share while it minimizes its cost of capital.

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The optimal capital structure is the one that maximizes stock price and minimizes the WACC. The optimal capital structure is not the one that maximizes the firm’s EPS.

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Which of the following best describes the shape of the line depicting the value of a levered firm when plotted according to the static trade-off theory? Assume that the percentage of debt in the capital structure is the independent variable.

A) U shaped.

B) Upside down U shaped.

C) Always upward sloping.

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The line depicting the value of a levered firm according to the static trade-off theory looks like an upside down U. The value of the firm will initially increase due to the tax savings provided by taking on additional debt financing, and then will decline as the costs of financial distress exceed the tax benefits of taking on additional debt financing.

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Global Development expects to earn $6 million next year. 40% of this amount, or $2.4 million, has been allocated for distribution to common shareholders. There are 2.4 million shares outstanding, and the market price is $30 a share. If Global uses the $2.4 million to repurchase shares at the current price of $30 per share, its share price after the repurchase will be closest to:

A) $29.00.

B) $31.00.

C) $30.00.

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Market value of equity before the repurchase is $30 × 2.4 million = $72 million.

Shares Repurchased = $2.4 million / $30 = 80,000 shares.

Shares remaining = Shares outstanding ? Shares repurchased = 2,400,000 ? 80,000 = 2,320,000.

Share price after the repurchase = ($72 million ? $2.4 million) / 2,320,000 = $30.

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John Harrison is discussing the implications for Modigliani and Miller (MM’s) propositions (assuming no corporate or personal taxes) for manager’s decisions regarding capital structure with his supervisor, Harriet Perry. In the conversation, Harrison makes the following statements:

Statement 1: According to MM’s propositions, increasing the use of cheaper debt financing will increase the cost of equity and the net change to the company’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC) will be zero.

Statement 2: Since MM’s propositions assume that there are no taxes, equity is the preferred method of financing.

What is the most appropriate response to Harrison’s statements?

A) Agree with one only.

B) Agree with both.

C) Agree with neither.

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Perry should agree with the first statement. MM asserts that the use of debt financing, although it is cheaper than equity, will increase in the cost of equity, resulting in a zero net change in the WACC. Perry should disagree with the second statement. Although MM’s propositions assume that there are no taxes, the conclusion is that the mix of debt and equity financing is irrelevant and that there is no preferred method of financing.

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According to pecking order theory, which financing choice is most preferred, and which is least preferred?

Most preferred

Least preferred

A) Internally generated funds New equity

B) New debt New equity

C) Internally generated funds New debt

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Pecking order theory is related to the signals management sends to investors through its financing choices. Financing choices follow a hierarchy based on visibility to investors with internally generated funds being the least visible and most preferred, and issuing new equity as the most visible and least preferred.

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Which of the following is likely to encourage a firm to increase the amount of debt in its capital structure?

A) The corporate tax rate increases.

B) The personal tax rate increases.

C) The firm's earnings become more volatile.

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An increase in the corporate tax rate will increase the tax benefit to the corporation, because interest expense is not taxable. An increase in the personal tax rate will not impact the firm’s cost of capital. More volatile earnings increase the risk of the firm and therefore the firm would not desire to increase financial risk as a result of these changes.

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Which of the following firms is most likely to utilize additional debt the next time it raises capital? The firm:

A) that has many new fixed assets.

B) in a high tax bracket.

C) firm that has experienced significant losses in recent years.

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The value of tax deductibility rises with tax rates. Of course, there are other ways to reduce taxes. Firms with many new assets are probably also benefiting from high levels of depreciation. Firms with recent losses may be avoiding taxes by writing off those losses.

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Bhairavi Patel, an analyst for major brokerage firm, is considering how to incorporate the static trade-off capital structure theory into her valuation models for companies she covers. Patel is discussing the static trade-off theory with her colleagues, and makes the following statements:

Statement 1: If a firm maintains a high debt rating, the firm cannot be at its optimal capital structure based on the static trade-off theory.

Statement 2: The static theory implies that differences in the optimal capital structure across similar firms in different countries must be the result of different tax rates in those countries.

With respect to Patel’s statements:

A) both are correct.

B) only one is correct.

C) both are incorrect.

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Neither of Patel’s statements is correct. Firms seek to maintain a high debt rating because it implies a lower probability of financial distress, which reduces the cost of debt and equity capital and leads to a higher value for the firm. Although a firm would not be at its optimal capital structure if it were not using enough debt, a firm can certainly have a large proportion of high quality debt that keeps the firm at its optimal capital structure while maintaining a high credit rating. The second statement is also incorrect. Although differences in tax rates can play a role in having different optimal capital structures for similar firms, differences in costs of financial distress will play a role as well. Differences in legal structure, liquidity, and other factors will result in different perceived costs of financial distress in different countries, which will in turn, contribute to different optimal capital structures according to the static trade-off theory.

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Katherine Epler, a self-employed corporate finance consultant, is working with another new client, Thurber Electronics. Epler is discussing the static trade-off capital structure theory with her client, and makes the following comments:

Comment 1: Under the static trade-off theory, the graph of a company’s weighted average cost of capital has a U shape.

Comment 2: According to the static trade-off theory, every firm will have the same optimal amount of debt that maximizes the value of the firm.

With respect to Epler’s comments:

A) both are correct.

B) only one is correct.

C) both are incorrect.

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Epler’s first comment is correct. When graphing a company’s WACC according to the static trade-off theory, the WACC will initially decline as a company increases its tax savings through the use of debt. However, as more debt is added, the WACC will reach a point where it increases due to the increasing costs of financial distress. Note that when graphing the static trade-off theory, the WACC looks like a U shape, while the value of the firm looks like an upside down U shape. This makes sense because the value of the firm is maximized when the WACC is minimized. Epler’s second comment is incorrect. Every firm will have a different optimal capital structure that will depend on the firm’s operating risk, tax situation, industry influences, and other factors.

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According to the static trade-off theory:

A) there is an optimal proportion of debt that will maximize the value of the firm.

B) new debt financing is always preferable to new equity financing.

C) the amount of debt used by a company should decrease as the company’s corporate tax rate increases.

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The static trade-off theory seeks to balance the costs of financial distress with the tax shield benefits from using debt. Under the static trade-off theory, there is an optimal capital structure that has an optimal proportion of debt that will maximize the value of the firm.