Module 11 Flashcards
what is capital structure?
the mix of debt and equity a company uses to finance its operations
characteristics of debt?
- includes all borrowed funds
- long term or short term
- secured against assets or unsecured
what is financial leverage?
measured by the proportion of total financing represented by debt in the firm’s capital structure. concerned with the relationship between a firm’s EBIT and EPS.
what is the relationship between debt proportion and financial leverage?
higher proportion in cap structure = higher degree of leverage
why is studying cap structure important?
- the use of debt comes w both costs and benefits
- amt of financial leverage in cap structure affects firm value
what is capital restructuring?
changing the amt of financial leverage a firm has without changing productive assets
how can a firm inc financial leverage?
- issuing debt
- repurchasing outstanding shares
- increasing div payout
how can a firm dec financial leverage?
- issuing new shares
- retiring outstanding debt
- reducing div payout
what are factors that affect firm value using the FCFTF method?
- amt and timing of CF
- the WACC as a discount rate
what is the primary goal of financial management?
to maximize shareholder wealth
how can we use cap structure to maximize SH wealth?
by minimizing WACC – smaller discount rate = higher PV of FCFTF
role of WACC in capital structure?
WACC = discount rate
what is business risk?
risk that relates to firm operations
what is leverage?
the effects of fixed costs on the return of ordinary shareholders = must be paid regardless
how can mgmt limit the negative impact of leverage?
- by adopting strategies that rely less on fixed costs
- outsource products instead of manufacturing
- adopt an optimal capital structure
impact of leverage on return and risk?
- controls risk and maximizes SH returns
- can maximizes both
what is operating leverage?
- a component of business risk
- concerned with the relationship between a firm’s sales revenue and its EBIT
what happens when operating costs are largely fixed?
small revenue changes will lead to large EBIT changes
how does financial risk arise?
from use of debt in cap structure (interest and capital risk is included)
what is effect of debt on EPS
will be geared up during an economic upswing and downwards during downswing
similarities between operating and financial leverage?
- both refer to the effects of fixed costs on risk and return for SH
- both magnify R&R when high
differences between operating and financial leverage?
- OL arises from large fixed op costs and FL arises from large fixed int costs
- OL = rev and EBIT, FL = EBIT and EPS
what is optimal capital structure?
the d:e ratio that results in the lowest WACC and maximizes firm value. minimizes the cost of financing firm activities.
what does M&M proposition 1 state?
the capital structure decisions a firm makes will not effect firm value nor the risk of CF produced by firm assets (WACC also doesn’t change w changes)
what does the real investment policy of the firm include?
the criteria it uses to decide which real assets to invest in
what is firm value?
the total value of the firm’s assets = value of equity + value of debt financing used