Corporate Finance - Corporate Finance Section 2

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16. An analyst gathers the following data about a company to compute its weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Before-tax cost of new debt 10 percent
Tax rate 35 percent
D/E 0.6660
Stock price $30
Next year’s dividend $2.50
Estimated growth rate 6.5 percent

  • Option : A
  • Explanation : Cost of equity = (D1 / P0 ) + g
    = ($2.50 / $30) + 0.065 = 8.3% + 6.5% = 14.8%
    Wd = (D/E) / (D/E + 1)= 0.6660 / 1.6660 = 0.40
    WACC = [(0.40) (0.10) (1 - 0.35)] + [(0.60) (0.148)] = 11.5%
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18. A firm with a marginal tax rate of 40% has a weighted average cost of capital of 7.11%. The before-tax cost of debt is 6%, and the before-tax cost of equity is 9%. The weight of equity in the firm's capital structure is closest to:

  • Option : B
  • Explanation : Taxes affect cost of debt only, since interest is tax deductible.
    WACC = Wd Rd (1 – t) + We Re,
    where Wd + We = 1 7.11 = (1 – We ) * 6 * (1 – 0.4) + We * 9,
    We = 65%.
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20. Which of the following components of WACC is affected by taxes?

  • Option : B
  • Explanation : Interest is tax deductible and it provides tax savings which lowers the cost of debt.
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