понедельник, 4 февраля 2013 г.

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 17

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 17

1. In Japan, 90-day securities have a 4% annualized return and 180-day securities have a 5% annualized return. In the United States, 90-day securities have a 4% annualized return and 180-day securities have an annualized return of 4.5%. All securities are of equal risk, and Japanese securities are denominated in terms of the Japanese yen. Assuming that interest rate parity holds in all markets, which of the following statements is most CORRECT?
a. The yen-dollar spot exchange rate equals the yen-dollar exchange rate in the 90-day forward market.
b. The yen-dollar spot exchange rate equals the yen-dollar exchange rate in the 180-day forward market.
c. The yen-dollar exchange rate in the 90-day forward market equals the yen-dollar exchange rate in the 180-day forward market.
d. The spot rate equals the 90-day forward rate.
e. The spot rate equals the 180-day forward rate.

2. If the spot rate of the Israeli shekel is 5.51 shekels per dollar and the 180-day forward rate is 5.97 shekels per dollar, then the forward rate for the Israeli shekel is selling at a ________________ to the spot rate.
a. premium of 8%
b. premium of 18%
c. discount of 18%
d. discount of 8%
e. premium of 16%


3. Stover Corporation, a U.S. based importer, makes a purchase of crystal glassware from a firm in Switzerland for 39,960 Swiss francs, or $24,000, at the spot rate of 1.665 francs per dollar. The terms of the purchase are net 90 days, and the U.S. firm wants to cover this trade payable with a forward market hedge to eliminate its exchange rate risk. Suppose the firm completes a forward hedge at the 90-day forward rate of 1.682 francs. If the spot rate in 90 days is actually 1.638 francs, how much will the U.S. firm have saved or lost in U.S. dollars by hedging its exchange rate exposure?
a. -$396
b. -$243
c. $0
d. $243
e. $638



4. A product sells for $750 in the United States. The exchange rate is $1 to 1.65 Swiss francs. If purchasing power parity (PPP) holds, what is the price of the product in Switzerland?
a. 123.75 Swiss francs
b. 454.55 Swiss francs
c. 750.00 Swiss francs
d. 1,237.50 Swiss francs
e. 1,650.00 Swiss francs



5. Chen Transport, a U.S. based company, is considering expanding its operations into a foreign country. The required investment at Time = 0 is $10 million. The firm forecasts total cash inflows of $4 million per year for 2 years, $6 million for the next 2 years, and then a possible terminal value of $8 million. In addition, due to political risk factors, Chen believes that there is a 50% chance that the gross terminal value will be only $2 million and a 50% chance that it will be $8 million. However, the government of the host country will block 20% of all cash flows. Thus, cash flows that can be repatriated are 80% of those projected. Chen's cost of capital is 15%, but it adds one percentage point to all foreign projects to account for exchange rate risk. Under these conditions, what is the project’s NPV?
a. $1.01 million
b. $2.77 million
c. $3.09 million
d. $5.96 million
e. $7.39 million

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 16

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 16

1. Swim Suits Unlimited is in a highly seasonal business, and the following summary balance sheet data show its assets and liabilities at peak and off-peak seasons (in thousands of dollars):
Peak Off-Peak
Cash $ 50 $ 30
Marketable securities 0 20
Accounts receivable 40 20
Inventories 100 50
Net fixed assets 500 500
Total assets $690 $620
Payables and accruals $ 30 $ 10
Short-term bank debt 50 0
Long-term debt 300 300
Common equity 310 310
Total claims $690 $620
From this data we may conclude that

a. Swim Suits' current asset financing policy calls for exactly matching asset and liability maturities.

b. Swim Suits' current asset financing policy is relatively aggressive; that is, the company finances some of its permanent assets with short-term discretionary debt.

c. Swim Suits follows a relatively conservative approach to current asset financing; that is, some of its short-term needs are met by permanent capital.

d. Without income statement data, we cannot determine the aggressiveness or conservatism of the company's current asset financing policy.

e. Without cash flow data, we cannot determine the aggressiveness or conservatism of the company's current asset financing policy.


2. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. A firm that makes 90% of its sales on credit and 10% for cash is growing at a constant rate of 10% annually. Such a firm will be able to keep its accounts receivable at the current level, since the 10% cash sales can be used to finance the 10% growth rate.

b. In managing a firm's accounts receivable, it is possible to increase credit sales per day yet still keep accounts receivable fairly steady, provided the firm can shorten the length of its collection period (its DSO) sufficiently.

c. Because of the costs of granting credit, it is not possible for credit sales to be more profitable than cash sales.

d. Since receivables and payables both result from sales transactions, a firm with a high receivables-to-sales ratio must also have a high payables-to-sales ratio.

e. Other things held constant, if a firm can shorten its DSO, this will lead to a higher current ratio.

3. Halka Company is a no-growth firm. Its sales fluctuate seasonally, causing total assets to vary from $320,000 to $410,000, but fixed assets remain constant at $260,000. If the firm follows a maturity matching (or moderate) working capital financing policy, what is the most likely total of long-term debt plus equity capital?

a. $260,642

b. $274,360

c. $288,800

d. $304,000

e. $320,000



4. Your consulting firm was recently hired to improve the performance of Shin-Soenen Inc, which is highly profitable but has been experiencing cash shortages due to its high growth rate. As one part of your analysis, you want to determine the firm’s cash conversion cycle. Using the following information and a 365-day year, what is the firm’s present cash conversion cycle?

Average inventory = $75,000

Annual sales = $600,000

Annual cost of goods sold = $360,000

Average accounts receivable = $160,000

Average accounts payable = $25,000

a. 120.6 days

b. 126.9 days

c. 133.6 days

d. 140.6 days

e. 148.0 days



5. Affleck Inc.'s business is booming, and it needs to raise more capital. The company purchases supplies on terms of 1/10 net 20, and it currently takes the discount. One way of getting the needed funds would be to forgo the discount, and the firm's owner believes she could delay payment to 40 days without adverse effects. What would be the effective annual percentage cost of funds raised by this action? (Assume a 365-day year.)

a. 10.59%

b. 11.15%

c. 11.74%

d. 12.36%

e. 13.01%

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 15

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 15

1. Which of the following statements best describes the optimal capital structure?
a. The optimal capital structure is the mix of debt, equity, and preferred stock that maximizes the company’s earnings per share (EPS).
b. The optimal capital structure is the mix of debt, equity, and preferred stock that maximizes the company’s stock price.
c. The optimal capital structure is the mix of debt, equity, and preferred stock that minimizes the company’s cost of equity.
d. The optimal capital structure is the mix of debt, equity, and preferred stock that minimizes the company’s cost of debt.
e. The optimal capital structure is the mix of debt, equity, and preferred stock that minimizes the company’s cost of preferred stock.


2. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. A firm can use retained earnings without paying a flotation cost. Therefore, while the cost of retained earnings is not zero, its cost is generally lower than the after-tax cost of debt.

b. The capital structure that minimizes a firm’s weighted average cost of capital is also the capital structure that maximizes its stock price.

c. The capital structure that minimizes the firm’s weighted average cost of capital is also the capital structure that maximizes its earnings per share.

d. If a firm finds that the cost of debt is less than the cost of equity, increasing its debt ratio must reduce its WACC.

e. Other things held constant, if corporate tax rates declined, then the Modigliani-Miller tax-adjusted tradeoff theory would suggest that firms should increase their use of debt.


3. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. In general, a firm with low operating leverage also has a small proportion of its total costs in the form of fixed costs.

b. There is no reason to think that changes in the personal tax rate would affect firms’ capital structure decisions.

c. A firm with high business risk is more likely to increase its use of financial leverage than a firm with low business risk, assuming all else equal.

d. If a firm's after-tax cost of equity exceeds its after-tax cost of debt, it can always reduce its WACC by increasing its use of debt.

e. Suppose a firm has less than its optimal amount of debt. Increasing its use of debt to the point where it is at its optimal capital structure will decrease the costs of both debt and equity financing.


4. Companies HD and LD have identical amounts of assets, operating income (EBIT), tax rates, and business risk. Company HD, however, has a much higher debt ratio than LD. Company HD’s basic earning power ratio (BEP) exceeds its cost of debt (rd). Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. Company HD has a higher return on assets (ROA) than Company LD.

b. Company HD has a higher times interest earned (TIE) ratio than Company LD.

c. Company HD has a higher return on equity (ROE) than Company LD, and its risk, as measured by the standard deviation of ROE, is also higher than LD’s.

d. The two companies have the same ROE.

e. Company HD’s ROE would be higher if it had no debt.


5. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. Generally, debt-to-total-assets ratios do not vary much among different industries, although they do vary among firms within a given industry.

b. Electric utilities generally have very high common equity ratios because their revenues are more volatile than those of firms in most other industries.

c. Drug companies (prescription, not illegal!) generally have high debt-to-equity ratios because their earnings are very stable and, thus, they can cover the high interest costs associated with high debt levels.

d. Wide variations in capital structures exist both between industries and among individual firms within given industries. These differences are caused by differing business risks and also managerial attitudes.

e. Since most stocks sell at or very close to their book values, book value capital structures are almost always adequate for use in estimating firms' costs of capital.

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 14

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 14

1. Which of the following statements about dividend policies is CORRECT?

a. Modigliani and Miller argue that investors prefer dividends to capital gains because dividends are more certain than capital gains. They call this the ―bird-in-the hand‖ effect.
b. One reason that companies tend to avoid stock repurchases is that dividend payments are taxed at a lower rate than gains on stock repurchases.
c. One advantage of dividend reinvestment plans is that they allow shareholders to avoid paying taxes on the dividends that they choose to reinvest.
d. One key advantage of a residual dividend policy is that it enables a company to follow a stable dividend policy.
e. The clientele effect suggests that companies should follow a stable dividend policy.


2. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. One disadvantage of dividend reinvestment plans is that they increase transactions costs for investors who want to increase their ownership in the company.
b. One advantage of dividend reinvestment plans is that they enable investors to postpone paying taxes on the dividends credited to their account.
c. Stock repurchases can be used by a firm that wants to increase its debt ratio.
d. Stock repurchases make sense if a company expects to have a lot of profitable new projects to fund over the next few years, provided investors are aware of these investment opportunities.
e. One advantage of an open market dividend reinvestment plan is that it provides new equity capital and increases the shares outstanding.


3. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. When firms are deciding on the size of stock splits—say whether to declare a 2-for-1 split or a 3-for-1 split, it is best to declare the smaller one, in this case the 2-for-1 split, because then the after-split price will be higher than if the 3-for-1 split had been used.
b. Back before the SEC was created in the 1930s, companies would declare reverse splits in order to boost their stock prices. However, this was determined to be a deceptive practice, and it is illegal today.
c. Stock splits create more administrative problems for investors than stock dividends, especially determining the tax basis of their shares when they decide to sell them, so today stock dividends are used far more often than stock splits.
d. When a company declares a stock split, the price of the stock typically declines—by about 50% after a 2-for-1 split—and this necessarily reduces the total market value of the equity.
e. If a firm’s stock price is quite high relative to most stocks—say $500 per share—then it can declare a stock split of say 10-for-1 so as to bring the price down to something close to $50.


4. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. If a firm follows the residual dividend policy, then a sudden increase in the number of profitable projects is likely to reduce the firm’s dividend payout.
b. The clientele effect can explain why so many firms change their dividend policies so often.
c. One advantage of adopting the residual dividend policy is that this policy makes it easier for corporations to develop a specific and well-identified dividend clientele.
d. New-stock dividend reinvestment plans are similar to stock dividends because they both increase the number of shares outstanding but don’t change the firm’s total amount of book equity.
e. Investors who receive stock dividends must pay taxes on the value of the new shares in the year the stock dividends are received.


5. DeAngelo Corp.'s projected net income is $150.0 million, its target capital structure is 25% debt and 75% equity, and its target payout ratio is 65%. DeAngelo has more positive NPV projects than it can finance without issuing new stock, but its board of directors had decreed that it cannot issue any new shares in the foreseeable future. The CFO now wants to determine how the maximum capital budget would be affected by changes in capital structure policy and/or the target dividend payout policy. Versus the current policy, how much larger could the capital budget be if (1) the target debt ratio were raised to 75%, other things held constant, (2) the target payout ratio were lowered to 20%, other things held constant, and (3) the debt ratio and payout were both changed by the indicated amounts.

Increase in Capital Budget
Increase Debt Lower Payout Do Both to 75% to 20%___________________

a. $114.0 $73.3 $333.9
b. $120.0 $77.2 $351.5
c. $126.4 $81.2 $370.0
d. $133.0 $85.5 $389.5
e. $140.0 $90.0 $410.0

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 13

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 13

1. Suppose Leonard, Nixon, & Shull Corporation’s projected free cash flow for next year is $100,000, and FCF is expected to grow at a constant rate of 6%. If the company’s weighted average cost of capital is 11%, what is the value of its operations?

a. $1,714,750
b. $1,805,000
c. $1,900,000
d. $2,000,000
e. $2,100,000





2. Leak Inc. forecasts the free cash flows (in millions) shown below. If the weighted average cost of capital is 11% and FCF is expected to grow at a rate of 5% after Year 2, what is the Year 0 value of operations, in millions? Assume that the ROIC is expected to remain constant in Year 2 and beyond (and do not make any half-year adjustments).
Year: 1 2
Free cash flow: -$50 $100

a. $1,456
b. $1,529
c. $1,606
d. $1,686
e. $1,770



3. Based on the corporate valuation model, the value of a company’s operations is $1,200 million. The company’s balance sheet shows $80 million in accounts receivable, $60 million in inventory, and $100 million in short-term investments that are unrelated to operations. The balance sheet also shows $90 million in accounts payable, $120 million in notes payable, $300 million in long-term debt, $50 million in preferred stock, $180 million in retained earnings, and $800 million in total common equity. If the company has 30 million shares of stock outstanding, what is the best estimate of the stock’s price per share?

a. $24.90
b. $27.67
c. $30.43
d. $33.48
e. $36.82



4. Based on the corporate valuation model, the value of a company’s operations is $900 million. Its balance sheet shows $70 million in accounts receivable, $50 million in inventory, $30 million in short-term investments that are unrelated to operations, $20 million in accounts payable, $110 million in notes payable, $90 million in long-term debt, $20 million in preferred stock, $140 million in retained earnings, and $280 million in total common equity. If the company has 25 million shares of stock outstanding, what is the best estimate of the stock’s price per share?
a. $23.00
b. $25.56
c. $28.40
d. $31.24
e. $34.36


5. Vasudevan Inc. forecasts the free cash flows (in millions) shown below. If the weighted average cost of capital is 13% and the free cash flows are expected to continue growing at the same rate after Year 3 as from Year 2 to Year 3, what is the Year 0 value of operations, in millions?
Year: 1 2 3
Free cash flow: -$20 $42 $45
a. $586
b. $617
c. $648
d. $680
e. $714

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 12

FIN 534 - Homework Chapter 12

1. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. Perhaps the most important step when developing forecasted financial statements is to determine the breakdown of common equity between common stock and retained earnings.
b. The first, and perhaps the most critical, step in forecasting financial requirements is to forecast future sales.
c. Forecasted financial statements, as discussed in the text, are used primarily as a part of the managerial compensation program, where management’s historical performance is evaluated.
d. The capital intensity ratio gives us an idea of the physical condition of the firm’s fixed assets.
e. The AFN equation produces more accurate forecasts than the forecasted financial statement method, especially if fixed assets are lumpy, economies of scale exist, or if excess capacity exists.

2. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. The sustainable growth rate is the maximum achievable growth rate without the firm having to raise external funds. In other words, it is the growth rate at which the firm's AFN equals zero.
b. If a firm’s assets are growing at a positive rate, but its retained earnings are not increasing, then it would be impossible for the firm’s AFN to be negative.
c. If a firm increases its dividend payout ratio in anticipation of higher earnings, but sales and earnings actually decrease, then the firm’s actual AFN must, mathematically, exceed the previously calculated AFN.
d. Higher sales usually require higher asset levels, and this leads to what we call AFN. However, the AFN will be zero if the firm chooses to retain all of its profits, i.e., to have a zero dividend payout ratio.
e. Dividend policy does not affect the requirement for external funds based on the AFN equation.

3. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. When we use the AFN equation, we assume that the ratios of assets and liabilities to sales (A0*/S0 and L0*/S0) vary from year to year in a stable, predictable manner.
b. When fixed assets are added in large, discrete units as a company grows, the assumption of constant ratios is more appropriate than if assets are relatively small and can be added in small increments as sales grow.
c. Firms whose fixed assets are “lumpy” frequently have excess capacity, and this should be accounted for in the financial forecasting process.
d. For a firm that uses lumpy assets, it is impossible to have small increases in sales without expanding fixed assets.
e. There are economies of scale in the use of many kinds of assets. When economies occur the ratios are likely to remain constant over time as the size of the firm increases.

4. Last year Jain Technologies had $250 million of sales and $100 million of fixed assets, so its FA/Sales ratio was 40%. However, its fixed assets were used at only 75% of capacity. Now the company is developing its financial forecast for the coming year. As part of that process, the company wants to set its target Fixed Assets/Sales ratio at the level it would have had had it been operating at full capacity. What target FA/Sales ratio should the company set?
a. 28.5%
b. 30.0%
c. 31.5%
d. 33.1%
e. 34.7%


5. Howton & Howton Worldwide (HHW) is planning its operations for the coming year, and the CEO wants you to forecast the firm's additional funds needed (AFN). The firm is operating at full capacity. Data for use in the forecast are shown below. However, the CEO is concerned about the impact of a change in the payout ratio from the 10% that was used in the past to 50%, which the firm's investment bankers have recommended. Based on the AFN equation, by how much would the AFN for the coming year change if HHW increased the payout from 10% to the new and higher level? All dollars are in millions.
Last year’s sales = S0 $300.0 Last year’s accounts payable $50.0
Sales growth rate = g 40% Last year’s notes payable $15.0
Last year’s total assets = A0* $500.0 Last year’s accruals $20.0
Last year’s profit margin = PM 20.0% Initial payout ratio 10.0%
a. $31.9
b. $33.6
c. $35.3
d. $37.0
e. $38.9

FIN 534 - Chapter 11

FIN 534 - Chapter 11

1. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. An externality is a situation where a project would have an adverse effect on some other part of the firm’s overall operations. If the project would have a favorable effect on other operations, then this is not an externality.
b. An example of an externality is a situation where a bank opens a new office, and that new office causes deposits in the bank’s other offices to decline.
c. The NPV method automatically deals correctly with externalities, even if the externalities are not specifically identified, but the IRR method does not. This is another reason to favor the NPV.
d. Both the NPV and IRR methods deal correctly with externalities, even if the externalities are not specifically identified. However, the payback method does not.
e. Identifying an externality can never lead to an increase in the calculated NPV.


2. Taussig Technologies is considering two potential projects, X and Y. In assessing the projects’ risks, the company estimated the beta of each project versus both the company’s other assets and the stock market, and it also conducted thorough scenario and simulation analyses. This research produced the following data:

Project X Project Y
Expected NPV $350,000 $350,000
Standard deviation (σNPV) $100,000 $150,000
Project beta (vs. market) 1.4 0.8

Correlation of the project cash flows with cash flows from currently existing projects. Cash flows are not correlated with the cash flows from existing projects. Cash flows are highly correlated with the cash flows from existing projects.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. Project X has more stand-alone risk than Project Y.
b. Project X has more corporate (or within-firm) risk than Project Y.
c. Project X has more market risk than Project Y.
d. Project X has the same level of corporate risk as Project Y.
e. Project X has less market risk than Project Y.


3. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

a. If an asset is sold for less than its book value at the end of a project’s life, it will generate a loss for the firm, hence its terminal cash flow will be negative.
b. Only incremental cash flows are relevant in project analysis, the proper incremental cash flows are the reported accounting profits, and thus reported accounting income should be used as the basis for investor and managerial decisions.
c. It is unrealistic to believe that any increases in net working capital required at the start of an expansion project can be recovered at the project’s completion. Working capital like inventory is almost always used up in operations. Thus, cash flows associated with working capital should be included only at the start of a project’s life.
d. If equipment is expected to be sold for more than its book value at the end of a project’s life, this will result in a profit. In this case, despite taxes on the profit, the end-of-project cash flow will be greater than if the asset had been sold at book value, other things held constant.
e. Changes in net working capital refer to changes in current assets and current liabilities, not to changes in long-term assets and liabilities. Therefore, changes in net working capital should not be considered in a capital budgeting analysis.


4. Temple Corp. is considering a new project whose data are shown below. The equipment that would be used has a 3-year tax life, would be depreciated by the straight-line method over its 3-year life, and would have a zero salvage value. No new working capital would be required. Revenues and other operating costs are expected to be constant over the project’s 3-year life. What is the project’s NPV?

Risk-adjusted WACC 10.0%
Net investment cost (depreciable basis) $65,000
Straight-line deprec. rate 33.3333%
Sales revenues, each year $65,500
Operating costs (excl. deprec.), each year $25,000
Tax rate 35.0%

a. $15,740
b. $16,569
c. $17,441
d. $18,359
e. $19,325


5. Florida Car Wash is considering a new project whose data are shown below. The equipment to be used has a 3-year tax life, would be depreciated on a straight-line basis over the project’s 3-year life, and would have a zero salvage value after Year 3. No new working capital would be required. Revenues and other operating costs will be constant over the project’s life, and this is just one of the firm’s many projects, so any losses on it can be used to offset profits in other units. If the number of cars washed declined by 40% from the expected level, by how much would the project’s NPV decline? (Hint: Note that cash flows are constant at the Year 1 level, whatever that level is.)

WACC 10.0%

Net investment cost (depreciable basis) $60,000
Number of cars washed 2,800
Average price per car $25.00
Fixed op. cost (excl. deprec.) $10,000
Variable op. cost/unit (i.e., VC per car washed) $5.375
Annual depreciation $20,000
Tax rate 35.0%

a. $28,939
b. $30,462
c. $32,066
d. $33,753
e. $35,530