Capital Structure & Cost of Capital PDF

Chapter No. 9 – Capital structure and cost of capital Contents  Need for capital structure  Components of a capital structure – exclusion of current liabilities and reasons thereof  Factors influencing capital structure  Optimal mix of debt and equity – practical discussion...

Chapter No. 9 – Capital structure and cost of capital Contents  Need for capital structure  Components of a capital structure – exclusion of current liabilities and reasons thereof  Factors influencing capital structure  Optimal mix of debt and equity – practical discussion  Costs associated with different components of capital structure – prime costs and additional costs  Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of a given capital structure  Numerical exercises in WACC At the end of the chapter the student will be able to:  Construct a capital structure for a given debt to equity ratio  Select the various components of a capital structure with the objective of keeping the cost of capital at an optimum level and getting the required funds in time  Map the various factors influencing selection of capital structure  Calculate the prime and additional costs of different components of capital structure  Calculate the WACC of a given capital structure Need for a capital structure What is a capital structure? Capital means “funds” employed in business for a period of twelve months and above. Capital excludes short-term funds employed in funds, i.e., working capital. Working capital is employed for a short time and hence ignored. Capital structure gives us the various components of capital – both debt capital and share capital. In short, capital structure tells us about how much funds have been brought into business and in what form? It gives us the relationship between debt and equity, known as “debt to equity” relationship. What is the need for a capital structure? Why do we need a capital structure? Can’t we do without it? In other words, can’t we only have equity or debt instead of both the components? We can, especially equity. One can have a business enterprise only with equity funds without taking any loans. However, the financial risk that he will be taking would be tremendous, without anybody to share it with. Referring to debt we cannot have a business enterprise only with debt. It is impossible as no lender would be willing to give entire amount by way of loan. Any lender wants the owner to put in some money by way of equity share capital so that the balance funds can be given in the form of loans. The market norm for lending is debt to equity not to exceed 2:1. There would be very few exceptions when this would be higher than 2:1. To sum up, any business enterprise would have what is known as “capital structure”. It is advisable for a business enterprise to have both debt and equity components in its capital structure although it is possible to run the business entirely on equity. Further as we have seen in the Chapter on “leverages”, it is beneficial to have a mix of debt and equity as it increases the “Earnings Per Share” (EPS) to the shareholders. At the same time, having regard to increasing risk due to increasing debt, it is better to be within the lending norms of 2:1. (Example – Rs. 100 lacs by ways of equity and Rs. 200 lacs by way of debt). Components of a capital structure – exclusion of current liabilities and reasons thereof Share capital: Equity share capital Retained earnings Preference share capital Debt capital: Debentures Loans Fixed deposits from the public Medium term acceptances for capital goods Bonds Unsecured loans from promoters, friends and relatives Deferred Payment Guarantees Hire Purchase Financing Note: The above list is not exhaustive. It is only illustrative. Exclusion of current liabilities and reasons thereof 1. They are employed in business for a short period and cannot be considered as part of capital 2. Some of them do not have any cost attached to them – advances received, provision for outstanding expenses, provision for tax, creditors outstanding etc. whereas all the items of debt capital have interest cost attached to them. 3. In a healthy business enterprise, they are fully covered by current assets and met out of current assets – example creditor gets paid out of realisation of sale bill outstanding as a “debtor”. Hence strictly speaking, current liabilities are not considered as “capital” Factors influencing capital structure or “determinants” of capital structure 1. The profitability of the organisation – the higher the profits more the chances for debt capital because of ability to service higher debt – both by way of interest and repayment of principal amount. This is reflected in a very critical ratio called “Interest coverage ratio”. EBIT/I. The higher the ratio, the more the chances of debt in the capital structure. 2. Reliable cash flows – the more they are reliable the more the lenders are willing to give debt capital to the enterprise. Once debt is taken cash outflows get fixed for the future. Accordingly the reliability of firm’s cash flows assumes great significance here. 3. Degree of risk associated with the enterprise – the higher the risk less the chances of debt capital and more the chances of equity Example – IT industry (at least in the late 90’s in India) run predominantly on equity 4. Management’s risk aversion attitude – conservative managements take less of external debt and try to utilise internal accruals to maximum extent and equity to the extent necessary; on the contrary aggressive managements go in for debt to a larger extent. Examples – Sundaram group of companies in Chennai in general and Sundaram Claytons in particular – conservative attitude towards debt and debt to equity ratio being less than 1:1. On the contrary, Essar oils have very high debt to equity ratio – close to 3:1. 5. Whether the business enterprise enjoys tax concessions in a big way like till recently the IT industry? Owing to high level of exports till recently the IT sector was enjoying 100% tax concession on the exports profits. There was no difference in cost of debt (interest) and cost of equity (primarily dividend) in the absence of taxes. Please refer to the Chapter on “Leverages”. Such enterprises are indifferent to debt and have more of equity only. 6. Availability of different kinds of debt instruments like “deep discounted” bonds, floating rate notes (where the rate of interest is adjusted to the market rates) etc. that are attractive to the enterprises to go in for maximum debt within the debt to equity ratio norms specified by the lenders or the market. These instruments have entered the market only in the 90s and hence the debt market is getting more and more attractive and limited companies have started using them instead of only depending upon institutional finance. 7. Attitude of the promoters towards financial and management control - if this is high, first preference would be given for debt and then preference shares. Last preference would be given for public equity where financial control gets diluted because of larger number of shareholders and managerial control is likely to be affected. 8. Nature of the industry – more competitive = higher equity and less debt; more monopolistic = less equity and more debt. Further depending upon the nature of industry the lenders do have different lending norms. This means that the leverage ratios in a particular industry are more or less uniform. These serve as the benchmark for determining the capital structure for any unit in the industry Optimal mix of debt and equity – a discussion Is there an optimal mix of debt and equity for a business enterprise? The answer to this question has been daunting Financial Analysts and Academicians and Theoreticians for a long time now. The perfect answer has so far been elusive. This indicates that the best capital structure or the most suitable capital structure for a business enterprise is still a “dream”. In the meanwhile, the business enterprise and “Finance experts” keep trying to evolve a perfect capital structure model. In this discussion it is better to remember that while “equity” is cushion available to a business enterprise, debt is a “sword”. Debt has to be paid back and hence risk increases. However the advantage of debt is that the enterprise gets exposed to professional approach of the lenders and market; besides “external debt” would force financial discipline in the enterprise. The process of discipline is automatic although not dramatic. The moment the firm so far in the hold of owners only exposes itself to market, discipline improves. The objective of optimal debt to equity mix should be to “maximise the firm value”. This involves the following steps:  Identify the economic and financial market conditions facing the firm and analyze the competitive features of the business  Invest in projects that yield a return greater than the minimum acceptable hurdle rate (cost of capital)  Manage financial risks that investors cannot easily manage, to maximise the firm’s debt and investment capacity  Choose a capital structure and financing mix that minimises the hurdle rate and matches the assets being financed Costs associated with different components of capital structure Is cost of debt, i.e., interest the same as cost of equity, i.e. dividend? We have seen already that in the presence of taxes, these two are different. Let us explain through a following example. Example no. 1 Let us have a capital structure having Rs. 100 lacs equity share capital and Rs. 100 lacs debt capital. Let the debt capital have interest rate of 14% p.a. and let the tax rate be 40%. Let the dividend rate on equity share capital also be 14%. On the face of it, we should have Rs. 14 lacs + Rs. 14 lacs = Rs. 28 lacs to be able to pay 14% interest on debt of Rs. 100 lacs and pay dividend at 14% on Rs. 100 lacs of equity share capital. Let us examine alternative income levels to arrive at exact level of income that is required to be able to do both – pay interest as well as dividend. Parameter Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3 EBIT Rs. 28 lacs Rs. 38 lacs Rs. 37.34 lacs Interest Rs. 14 lacs Rs. 14 lacs Rs. 14 lacs EBT Rs. 14 lacs Rs. 24 lacs Rs. 23.34 lacs Tax @ 40% Rs. 5.6 lacs Rs. 9.6 lacs Rs. 9.34 lacs PAT Rs. 8.4 lacs Rs. 14.4 lacs Rs. 14 lacs Maximum dividend Payable assuming 100% dividend payment Rs. 8.4 lacs Rs. 14 lacs Rs. 14 lacs (This is not permitted as leaving an Provisions of the excess of Companies’ Act) Rs. 0.4 lac Thus in alternative 3, we have found the exact level of earning before interest and tax or pre-tax earnings to be able to pay interest of Rs. 14 lacs and dividend of Rs. 14 lacs. The cost of dividend to the dividend paying company is just not Rs. 14 lacs but the tax of Rs.9.34 lacs, the total cost being Rs. 23.34 lacs. Thus we are able to see that in the presence of taxes, dividend is costlier than interest. The next question is: is entire tax paid by an enterprise attributable to dividend? No. Let us take the following example. Example no. 2 Suppose PAT = Rs. 100 lacs and tax rate is 40% and dividend is Rs. 50 lacs. It is not correct to say that cost of dividend is Rs. 50 lacs and entire tax of Rs. 66.67 lacs that is paid by the company on its total Profit Before Tax. [Rs. 66.67 lacs = Rs. 100 lacs post-tax = 60% (100% PBT – 40% tax rate). Hence 100% = Rs. 166.67 lacs and tax is Rs. 66.67 lacs]. Hence tax attributable to Rs. 50 lacs dividend = Rs. 33.33 lacs. Is there a formula for this conversion of post-tax to pre-tax and vice-versa? Yes. Pre-tax to post-tax = Pre-tax rate or value (1- Tax rate in decimals) and similarly Post-tax to pre-tax = Post-tax rate/1-Tax rate in decimals. What is the need for this conversion? In a given capital structure debt components have pre-tax cost while share capital components have post-tax cost. How does one determine the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for the capital structure? By either converting pre-tax cost to post-tax cost and post-tax cost to pre-tax cost? The convention is that WACC globally is expressed in terms of post-tax cost. Hence pre-tax costs are all converted into post-tax costs. The formula just to recap is Pre-tax rate x (1-Tax rate in decimals) Of the various resources that constitute the capital structure of a business enterprise, for Term loans, Acceptances of medium/long-term maturity, Deferred payment credit, Retained earnings, Privately placed debentures, there is no cost incurred for raising the resources; whereas, in the case of any public issue, be it equity/preference share, or debt like debenture, bond, there would always be issue costs associated with it like the following: Advertisement expenses; Underwriting commission; Fees paid to Registrar to the issues; Brokerage to bankers/brokers to the issues; Cost of printing prospectus, shares/debentures/bond application forms as well as share/debenture certificates; Conference/seminar of brokers/prospective groups of investors; Fees paid to the manager/managers to the issue. These costs are known as “floatation costs” and get amortized over a period of time through preliminary expenses. Hence for the purpose of determination of cost of capital, from the amount of the issue, the floatation costs are reduced to arrive at the net amount received under the issue and the rate of interest/dividend actually paid is related to this net amount and not to the size of the issue. Similarly, there could be a redemption premium at the time of repaying debenture/preference share capital and seldom in other cases. Hence the redemption amount that is called “premium” is an addition to the cost of that particular instrument. Expansion for used abbreviations or symbols in the following paragraphs: 1. Kd = Cost of debt including floatation cost 2. f = floatation Costs 3. kd = cost of debt without floatation cost 4. N = number of years for maturity like in the case of preference share capital, debenture and bond 5. kp = Cost of preference share capital 6. ke = Cost of equity without floatation cost 7. Ke = Cost of equity with floatation cost 8. F in the case of preference share capital = Redemption value and 9. P in the case of preference share capital = Face value Example no. 3 Equity share capital is Rs.1000lacs; Floatation costs are 15% of this amount. Then, the dividend outgo would relate at least for the purpose of determination of the cost of capital to Rs.850lacs and not to Rs.1000lacs. Similarly if redemption premium is 10% of debenture issue of Rs.200lacs, the outgo of Rs.20lacs would be a part of cost of debenture, besides interest outgo. Now that we have seen the adjustment required to be made due to floatation costs and redemption premium, we will see the different costs. Debentures: Interest payable is pre-tax expenditure. Hence it is multiplied by (1-tax rate) to arrive at post-tax cost, which is the measure of cost of capital. Hence, if kd is the cost of debenture, then the formula works out as under: Kd = {Int. outgo p.a. x (1-tax rate)} + {Redemption value of debenture (-) Amt. recd. (net of floatation costs)}/N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ {Redemption value of debenture (+) Amt. recd. (net of F.C.)}/2 Note No. 1: Cost of bonds and any other instrument would be similar to this so long as the outgo is interest, which is pre-tax and there is a likelihood of floatation cost and redemption premium. Cost of term loans/deferred payment credit/acceptances/fixed deposits: Annual interest outgo (1-tax rate) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X 100 Average outstanding during the year, i.e., average of opening and closing balances Note No. 2: In the case of fixed deposits, you incur upfront costs and the same should be taken as deduction in the amount of fixed deposits received but there would be no redemption premium in this case. Cost of preference share capital: kd = D + (F– P)/N ------------------ (F + P)/2 Here for dividend rate, as it is post-tax, no conversion takes place, unlike in the case of interest. Cost of equity capital: (Without floatation costs) Dividend at the end of the year ke = ------------------------------------------- +g, Price of equity share at the beginning Where g = constant growth rate in dividend per share (DPS). Cost of equity capital: (With floatation costs) ke Ke = -------, where ke = cost of equity without floatation costs and f = floatation cost (1-f) in % of the equity capital amount. Cost of retained earnings: It is equal to cost of equity without floatation costs. Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) Let us calculate the WACC of the following structure Example no. 4 Equity share capital = Rs. 1000 lacs @ 18% Bonds = Rs. 2000 lacs @ 13% Fixed deposits = Rs. 500 lacs @ 12.5% Tax rate = 38.5% (Rupees in lacs) Name of the component in the capital structure Value Weight Pre-tax cost Post- tax cost Cost Equity share capital 1000 2 -- 18% 36 Bonds 2000 4 13% 8% 32 Fixed deposits 500 1 12.5% 7.69% 7.69 Total costs 75.69 Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) = total cost/number of weights = 75.69/7 = 10.82% Note: Conversion of 13% pre-tax to post-tax = 13% (1 – 0.385) = 8% Similarly fixed deposit pre-tax cost of 12.5% = 7.69% Weights are found out for all the components of a given capital structure by dividing all the amounts with the Highest common factor (HCF). Here the HCF is Rs. 500 lacs. Above individual costs of various components of capital structure include all costs, i.e., prime and additional costs. Cost of capital and investment analysis: In theory, certain assumptions underlie the determination of cost of capital. For this, one thing that must be understood generally is the influence of leverage (higher debt) on the firm’s valuation in the market and accordingly the cost of debt and cost of equity are determined. Following are the assumptions between cost of capital and finance leverage:  There is no income-tax, corporate or personal;  Entire earnings are paid out to share-holders in the form of dividend;  Investors have identical subjective probability distribution of earnings before interest and taxes;  Net operating income to remain constant at least in the short-term as well as in the medium-term;  A company can change its capital structure without incurring any transaction costs. Accordingly,  Cost of debt, i.e., kd = F/B = Annual interest charge ----------------------------------  Market value of debt  Cost of equity, i.e., ke, based on 100% dividend, = E/S = Equity earnings ------------------------ MV of equity  Overall cost of capital = ko = O/V = Net operating income ------------------------------ MV of the firm Where, ko = kd {B/(B+S)} + ke {S/(B+S)} Measured by the ratio of B/S, the effect of change in the financial leverage on kd, ke & ko has to be examined. There are different approaches, like: 1. Net income approach; 2. Net operating income approach; 3. Traditional approach and 4. Miller and Modigliani approach with three propositions. Net income approach: According to this approach, the cost of equity capital, i.e., k e and the cost of debt, kd remain unchanged when B/S, the degree of leverage varies. This means that ko, the average cost of capital measured as ko = kd{B/(B+S)} + ke{S/(B+S)} declines as B/S increases. This happens because when B/S increases, k d, which is lower than ke, receives higher weight in the calculation of ko. The net income approach may be illustrated with a numerical example as under: Example no. 5 Consider two firms X and Y, which are identical in all aspects excepting in the degree of leverage employed by them. The following is the financial data for these firms. Firm X Firm Y Net operating income (O) 2lacs 2lacs Interest on debt (F) ------- 50,000/- Equity earnings (E) 2lacs 1.5lacs Cost of equity capital (ke) 15% 15% Cost of debt capital (kd) 16% 16% Market value of equity E/ke (S) 13.33lacs 10lacs Market value of debt (B) ------ 3.13lacs Total value of firm (V) 13.33lacs 13.13lacs The average cost of capital for firm X: 16% x 0/13.33lacs + 15% x 13.33/13.33 = 15% The average cost of capital for firm Y: 16% x 3.13/13.13 + 15% x 10/13.13 = 11.43% Net operating income approach: According to this approach, the overall capitalization rate and the cost of debt remains constant for all degrees of leverage. Therefore, in the following equation, k o and kd are constant for all degrees of leverage. ko = kd {B/(B+S)} + ke {S/(B+S)} Therefore, the cost of equity can be expressed as: ke = ko + {(ko – kd) x (B/S)} David Durand has advocated this approach. According to him, the market value of a firm depends on its net operating income and business risk. The change in the degree of leverage employed by a firm cannot change these underlying factors. Changes take place in the distribution of income and risk between debt and equity without affecting the total income and risk, which influence the market value of the firm. Hence the degree of leverage cannot influence the market value or the overall cost of capital of the firm. The critical assumption in this approach is that k o is constant irrespective of the debt/equity relationship. The market capitalises the value of the firm as a whole and is indifferent to debt/equity. An increase in the leverage, which reduces the cost of capital, is offset by the increase in the equity return as expected by the prospective investors in view of the increased risk associated with the firm due to higher leverage. As the cost of the firm k o cannot be altered through leverage, this theory implies that there is no optimal capital structure. Traditional approach: The traditional approach has the following propositions: 1. The cost of debt capital kd remains more or less constant up to a certain degree of leverage but rises thereafter at an increasing rate. 2. The cost of equity capital, ke, remains more or less constant or rises only gradually up to a certain degree of leverage and rises sharply thereafter. 3. The average cost of capital, ko, as a consequence of the above behaviour of kd and ke (a) Decreases up to a certain point with the increase in leverage; (b) Remains more or less unchanged for moderate increase in leverage thereafter and (c) Rises beyond a certain point. Note No. 3: The principal implication of this approach is that the overall cost of capital is dependent on the capital structure and there is an optimal capital structure, which minimizes the cost of capital. At point of optimal capital structure, the real marginal cost of debt and equity is the same. Before the optimal point, the real marginal cost of debt is less than the real marginal cost of equity. Beyond the optimal point, the real marginal cost of debt is more than the real marginal cost of equity. Miller and Modigliani approach: Their proposition is that the net operating income approach in terms of three basic propositions best explains the relationship between leverage and the cost of capital. They argue against the traditional approach by offering behavioural justification for having the cost of capital, ko, remain constant throughout all degrees of leverage. It is essential to spell out the assumptions underlying their proposition:  Capital markets are perfect. Information is costless and readily available to all investors. There are no transaction costs and all securities are infinitely divisible;  Investors are assumed to be rational and behave accordingly, i.e., choose a combination of risk and return that is most advantageous to them;  The average expected future operating earnings of a firm are subject by random variables. It is assumed that the expected probability distribution values of all the investors are the same. The MM theory implies that the expected probability distribution values of expected operating earnings for all future periods are the same as present operating earnings;  Firms can be grouped into “equivalent return” classes on the basis of their business risks. As firms falling into one class have the same degree of business risk;  There is no corporate or personal income tax. Basic propositions: Proposition 1: The total market value of the firm which is equal to the total market value of debt and market value of equity is independent of the degree of leverage and is equal to its expected to its expected operating incomes discounted at the rate appropriate to its risk class. Symbolically, it is represented as: Vj = Sj + Bj = Oj /pk, Where, Vj = total market value of the firm j Sj = market value of the equity of the firm j Bj = market value of the debt of the firm j Oj = expected operating income of the firm j pk = discount rate applicable to the risk class k to which the firm belongs. Proposition 2: The expected yield on equity, ij is equal to pk plus a premium, which is equal to the debt/equity ratio, times the difference between pk and the yield on debt r. Symbolically, it is represented by the following equation: Ij = pk + (pk – r)Bj/Sj Proposition 3: The manner in which an investment is financed does not affect the cut-off rate for the investment decision making for a firm in a given risk class. The proposition emphasises the point that average cost of capital is not affected by the financing decisions as both investment and financing decisions are independent. Proof of the above propositions – The Arbitrage Mechanism Let us consider two firms A and B in the same risk class. The expected operating incomes are also the same but the two firms have varying financial leverages. Consider the case wherein the unlevered firm A has a market value, which is, less than that of the levered firm B. Now if an investor holds equity shares in the firm B, he can sell these shares and purchase shares in the firm A. By this, the market value of the firm B comes down while that of the firm A increases. This means that any difference between the values of unlevered and levered firms is negated by the availability of arbitrage opportunity to the individual investor, who takes advantage of his personal leverage to buy equity in firm A. Similarly, an investor could sell his investment in the equity of the firm A and purchase some equity in the firm B, in case the market value of the unlevered firm A is greater than that of the levered firm B. Here again, because of his selling the equity in firm A, the firm’s market value depresses and the market value of firm B increases. This position continues till there is no further arbitrage opportunity, i.e., equality between the values of the firms is established. This means that investors are able to reconstitute their individual portfolios by offsetting changes in the corporate leverage with changes in personal leverage. Criticism of the MM position: Assumptions underlying the MM position do not hold in most of the markets, like, absence of taxes, both corporate and personal, imperfection in the capital markets and because of this, bankruptcy costs exist for any firm, which drastically could alter the market values of the firm, be it debt or equity, more so in the case of equity. These imperfections in the assumptions could be overcome. Conclusion: Thus, there is a traditional approach, which states that there exists an optimal capital structure and the MM position that financial leverages do not affect the overall value of the firm in the market. However, there are certain imperfections in the underlying assumptions in the MM position, which if overcome by necessary correction, would render the altered MM position quite acceptable. The imperfections in the underlying assumptions in the MM position could be overcome by incorporating the personal and corporate tax in the determination of cost of capital. The basic premise here is that while interest on debt-capital is a tax-deductible expenditure, dividend on the share capital is not. In the first step, only the corporate tax is considered. Accordingly, the following example is constructed. Example no. 6 Consider two firms A and B having an expected net operating income of Rs.5lacs and which are similar in all respects except in the degree of leverage employed by them. Firm “A” employs no debt capital whereas Firm “B” has Rs.20lacs in debt capital on which it pays 12% interest. The corporate tax rate applicable to both the firms is 50%. The income to stockholders and debt-holders of both the firms is shown below. Firm A Firm B Net operating income 5,00,000/- 5,00,000/- Interest on debt ------ 2,40,000/- Profit before taxes 5,00,000/- 2,60,000/- Taxes 2,50,000/- 1,30,000/- Profit after tax (income available 2,50,000/- 1,30,000/- To shareholders) Combined income of debt-holders 2,50,000/- 3,70,000/- And shareholders This is because of the less amount of tax paid in the case of Firm B, which is again due to the interest charge of Rs.2,40,000/-. This saving in tax due to a tax-deductible expenditure is called “Tax shield”. Tax shield is calculated at the rate of corporate tax on any tax-deductible expenditure. It should be borne in mind that due to the presence of tax shield, the value of the firm also increases, unlike in the classical theory, in which, the firm enjoying higher leverage, i.e., debt has its market value diminished due to the higher incidence of risk on account of higher level of debt. The best way to combine these two is that, while, in the presence of corporate taxes and availability of “tax shield” on interest on debt capital, the value of the firm having higher debt capital increases initially up to a certain point, beyond this point, the advantage of “leverage” diminishes and the market value of the firm starts declining. In general, when corporate taxes are considered the value of the firm that is levered would be equal to value of the unlevered firm added by the tax shield associated with debt, i.e., V = O (1 - corporate tax rate, tc) ------------------------------------------ + tc B k where, “O” is the operating income of the firm as reduced by the tax rate to convert it into a post-tax return and discounted by a rate of return expectation by the share holder, namely, “k” and t c B is the present value of the “tax shield” on the interest on debt capital, enjoyed by the firm B in our example. It is assumed here, that the debt capital is perpetual and the rate of interest is constant and hence, it is taken that the present value of tax shield on the interest outflows is equal to the present value of the borrowing as multiplied by (1-tax rate) which is tc Corporate taxes and personal taxes: At present in India, the dividend income is not taxed with effect from 01/04/97 and hence, from the point of view of the shareholder, he would prefer to have dividend income rather than income from interest which is taxable. Hence, incorporation of personal tax into the scene together with corporate tax does not alter the situation and if at all it alters, it alters in favour of the firm, which is having higher leverage, wherein the EPS could be higher along with the dividend pay out. Let us incorporate the corporate tax to the debt holder in the above example and compare the two firms A and B again. Example no. 7 Firm A Firm B Income available to the shareholders 2,50,000 1,30,000 Personal tax on dividend ---------- ---------- Net income after tax to the shareholders 2,50,000 1,30,000 Income to debt holders ------------- 2,40,000 Less Corporate tax @ 35% ------------- 84,000 Net income on debt after tax ------------- 1,56,000 Combined income to shareholders and 2,50,000 2,86,000 Debt holders From the above it is clear that the advantage of “leverage” for the firm B is reflected in its combined income to the shareholders and the debt holders, post-tax. Existence of “bankruptcy” costs: Capital market, when perfect, has no “bankruptcy” costs. However, capital markets in most of the countries or economies are far from perfect and more so, in India. Hence, “bankruptcy” costs do exist. It can be seen that in the case of a firm in “distress”, the assets to be sold for cash would not fetch the market value but much less than that, in which case, the bankruptcy costs do matter to a very great extent. It would be further appreciated that these costs affect firms with “higher” leverage more than those firms, which are “equity” oriented. Difference between Corporate and Personal Leverage: In the classical theory, it has been assumed that any advantage available to a firm due to higher leverage is negated by the availability of an “arbitrage” opportunity, available to an investor who has a portfolio, which is interchangeable. However, it is well known that the rate of interest on borrowing for an individual investor is quite different from that of a corporate borrower. In most of the cases, the rate of interest on personal loans is higher. Further, the individual is saddled with personal liability towards the lender also whereas, in the case of corporates, the individual liability of the promoters or the shareholders is absent. Agency costs: Credit monitoring costs of lending agencies could be high, especially in the case of high debt/equity ratio and hence cannot be ignored. To the extent of credit monitoring costs, the cost of debt capital gets enhanced which is absent in the case of equity capital, while in the case of equity public issue, floatation costs are incurred. Net Income Approach: Example no. 8 A company’s expected annual net operating income (EBIT) is Rs.2,00,000/-. The company has Rs.8,00,000/-, 10% debentures. The equity capitalisation rate (ke) of the company is 12.5%. No taxes. Step No. 1 – Determine the value of the firm Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.200000/- Less interest on 10% debenture (I) Rs.80000/- ---------------- Earnings available to equity holders (NI) Rs.120000/- Equity capitalisation rate 0.125 Market value of equity (Earnings available/ECR) Rs.960000/- Market value of debt Rs.800000/- Total value of the firm Rs.1760000/- Step No. 2 Determine the overall cost of capital of the firm Overall cost of capital = ko = EBIT/Total value of the firm – Rs.2lacs ----------------- = 0.1136 = 11.36% app. Rs.17.6lacs Alternatively: ko = kd (B/(B+S) + ke (S/(B+S) = {10.0% x 8lacs/17.6lacs} + {12.5% x 9.6lacs/17.6lacs} = 11.36% Alternative 2 Suppose we increase the amount of debenture to Rs.12lacs and pay off the shareholders, assuming that it is possible. The kd and ke would remain unaffected as per the “Net operating income” approach theory. Hence in the new situation, let us see the value of the firm and overall cost of capital for the firm. Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.200000/- Less interest on 10% debenture (I) Rs.120000/- ---------------- Earnings available to equity holders (NI) Rs.80000/- Equity capitalisation rate 0.125 Market value of equity (Earnings available/ECR) Rs.640000/- Market value of debt Rs.1200000/- Total value of the firm Rs.1840000/- Step No. 2 Determine the overall cost of capital of the firm Overall cost of capital = ko = EBIT/Total value of the firm – Rs.2lacs ----------------- = 0.1087 = 10.87% app. Rs.18.4lacs Alternatively: ko = kd (B/(B+S) + ke (S/(B+S) = {10.0% x 12lacs/18.4lacs} + {12.5% x 6.40lacs/18.4lacs} = 10.87% Thus it can be seen, that by increasing the debt, i.e., the leverage, the firm is able to increase the market value and simultaneously reduce the overall cost of capital. The opposite would be the effect if we reduce the debt component. Alternative 2 Decrease the amount of debenture from Rs.8lacs to Rs.6lacs and all other factors remain unchanged: Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.200000/- Less interest on 10% debenture (I) Rs.60000/- ---------------- Earnings available to equity holders (NI) Rs.140000/- Equity capitalisation rate 0.125 Market value of equity (Earnings available/ECR) Rs.1120000/- Market value of debt Rs.600000/- Total value of the firm Rs.1720000/- Step No. 2 Determine the overall cost of capital of the firm Overall cost of capital = ko = EBIT/Total value of the firm – Rs.2lacs ----------------- = 0.1162 = 11.62% app. Rs.17.2lacs Alternatively: ko = kd (B/(B+S) + ke (S/(B+S) = {10.0% x 6lacs/17.2lacs} + {12.5% x 11.20lacs/17.2lacs} = 11.62% Net operating income approach (NOI) Example no. 9 Operating income Rs.150000/-; debt at 10%; outstanding debt Rs.6lacs; overall capitalisation rate 12.5%; total value of the firm and equity capitalisation rate to be found out. Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.150000/- Overall capitalisation rate 0.125 Total market value of the firm (V) = EBIT/ko Rs.1200000/- Market value of debt (B) Rs.600000/- Market value of equity (S) Rs.600000/- Equity capitalisation rate, ke = {EBIT (-) I}/S Earning available to equity holders -------------------------------------------------------- k e= {150000 (-) 60000}/600000 = 15% Total market value of equity shares Alternatively, ke = ko + {(ko – kd) x B/S} = 12.5% + {(12.5% - 10%) x 6lacs/6lacs} = 15% Now let us examine the effect of changes in the debt as in the case of net income approach, i.e., in the first instance, the debt goes up to Rs. 8lacs and in the second instance, it reduces to Rs. 5lacs. Alternative 1 Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.150000/- Overall capitalisation rate 0.125 Total market value of the firm (V) = EBIT/ko Rs.1200000/- Market value of debt (B) Rs.800000/- Market value of equity (S) Rs.400000/- Equity capitalisation rate, ke = {EBIT (-) I}/S Earning available to equity holders -------------------------------------------------------- ke = {150000 (-) 80000}/400000 = 17.5% Total market value of equity shares Alternatively, ke = ko + {(ko – kd) x B/S} = 12.5% + {(12.5% - 10%) x 8lacs/4lacs} = 17.5% Alternative 2 Net operating income (EBIT) Rs.150000/- Overall capitalisation rate 0.125 Total market value of the firm (V) = EBIT/ko Rs.1200000/- Market value of debt (B) Rs.500000/- Market value of equity (S) Rs.700000/- Equity capitalisation rate, ke = {EBIT (-) I}/S Earning available to equity holders -------------------------------------------------------- ke = {150000 (-) 50000}/700000 = 14.28% Total market value of equity shares Alternatively, ke = ko + {(ko – kd) x B/S} = 12.5% + {(12.5% - 10%) x 5lacs/7lacs} = 14.28% Questions for practice and reinforcement of learning along with numerical exercises 1. Find out the post tax cost of the following components of capital structure: Assume wherever necessary 40% tax rate Equity – FV Rs. 35/- Dividend rate – 17% Floatation cost = 8% Growth rate = 5% Debenture – FV Rs.1000/- Rate 12.5% Redemption premium 7% Maturity period 3 years and floatation cost 2.5% Acceptances – Rate of interest 14%, acceptance commission – 1.5% and processing charges = 1.5% Maturity period = 5 years 2. From the following choose the best capital structure, i.e., the most economical capital structure (Figures in lacs of rupees) The respective costs are indicated in the brackets Component Structure 1 Structure 2 Structure 3 ESC 1000 (15%) 1500 (16%) 1300 (18%) PSC 200 (8%) 300 (10%) 300 (9%) Debentures 800 (13%) 900 (12%) 500 (12.5%) Term loans 1000 (14%) 1200 (13.5%) 1300 (13%)  Fixed deposits 200 (12.5%) 300 (11%) 400 (12%) Effective rate of tax = 38.50% 3. How do you overcome the limitations in Miller/Modigliani position on capital structure? 4. Given the various factors influencing capital structure, find out from website or other sources, the relevance of these factors in Indian firms. 5. From the following find out the weighted average cost of capital, both in pre-tax and post-tax terms (All figures are rupees in lacs) Tax rate 35% Equity share capital 1000 – 18% Term Loan – 1000 – 15% Preference share capital – 200 – 12% Unsecured loans – 200 – 20% Debenture – 600 – 13% Fixed deposits – 250 – 14% Acceptances – 150 – 16% Deferred Payment Credit – 100 – 14% 6. From the following find out the WACC of the capital structure both in post-tax and pre-tax terms. The corporate tax rate is 30% Component Amount (in lacs) Rate Equity share capital 500 18% Preference share capital 200 12% Debentures 500 14% Term loans 500 16% Unsecured loans 200 22% Fixed deposits 100 15% Acceptances 100 16% 7. Discuss the difference between net income approach and net operating income approach with a suitable example. 8. What are the difficulties in fixing an optimal debt to equity relationship in a capital structure?