Fight Finance

Question 366  opportunity cost, NPV, CFFA

Your friend is trying to find the net present value of an investment which:

• Costs $1 million initially (t=0); and
• Pays a single positive cash flow of $1.1 million in one year (t=1).

The investment has a total required return of 10% pa due to its moderate level of undiversifiable risk.

Your friend is aware of the importance of opportunity costs and the time value of money, but he is unsure of how to find the NPV of the project.

He knows that the opportunity cost of investing the $1m in the project is the expected gain from investing the money in shares instead. Like the project, shares also have an expected return of 10% since they have moderate undiversifiable risk. This opportunity cost is $0.1m ##(=1m \times 10\%)## which occurs in one year (t=1).

He knows that the time value of money should be accounted for, and this can be done by finding the present value of the cash flows in one year.

Your friend has listed a few different ways to find the NPV which are written down below.

Method 1: ##-1m + \dfrac{1.1m}{(1+0.1)^1} ##

Method 2: ##-1m + 1.1m - 1m \times 0.1 ##

Method 3: ##-1m + \dfrac{1.1m}{(1+0.1)^1} - 1m \times 0.1 ##

Which of the above calculations give the correct NPV? Select the most correct answer.

(a) Method 1 only.

(b) Method 2 only.

(c) Method 3 only.

(d) Methods 1 and 2 only.

(e) Methods 1 and 3 only.

Question 136  income and capital returns

A stock was bought for $8 and paid a dividend of $0.50 one year later (at t=1 year). Just after the dividend was paid, the stock price was $7 (at t=1 year).

What were the total, capital and dividend returns given as effective annual rates? The choices are given in the same order:

##r_\text{total}##, ##r_\text{capital}##, ##r_\text{dividend}##.

(a) 0.0625, -0.0625, -0.125.

(b) 0.0625, 0.125, -0.0625.

(c) -0.0625, 0.0625, -0.125.

(d) -0.0625, -0.125, 0.0625.

(e) -0.125, -0.1875, 0.0625.

Question 49  inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows, APR, effective rate

In Australia, nominal yields on semi-annual coupon paying Government Bonds with 2 years until maturity are currently 2.83% pa.

The inflation rate is currently 2.2% pa, given as an APR compounding per quarter. The inflation rate is not expected to change over the next 2 years.

What is the real yield on these bonds, given as an APR compounding every 6 months?

(a) 0.3086%

(b) 0.6171%

(c) 0.6181%

(d) 0.6239%

(e) 0.6300%

Question 498  NPV, Annuity, perpetuity with growth, multi stage growth model

A business project is expected to cost $100 now (t=0), then pay $10 at the end of the third (t=3), fourth, fifth and sixth years, and then grow by 5% pa every year forever. So the cash flow will be $10.5 at the end of the seventh year (t=7), then $11.025 at the end of the eighth year (t=8) and so on perpetually. The total required return is 10℅ pa.

Which of the following formulas will NOT give the correct net present value of the project?

(a) ##-100+ \dfrac{ \dfrac{10}{0.1} \left(1-\dfrac{1}{(1+0.1)^3} \right)}{(1+0.1)^2} +\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{10}{0.1-0.05}\right)}{(1+0.1)^5} ##

(b) ##-100+ \dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^3} +\dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^4} +\dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^5} +\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{10}{0.1-0.05}\right)}{(1+0.1)^5} ##

(c) ##-100+ \dfrac{ \dfrac{10}{0.1} \left(1-\dfrac{1}{(1+0.1)^4} \right)}{(1+0.1)^2} +\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{10.5}{0.1-0.05}\right)}{(1+0.1)^6} ##

(d) ##-100+ \dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^3} +\dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^4} +\dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^5} +\dfrac{10}{(1+0.1)^6} +\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{10.5}{0.1-0.05}\right)}{(1+0.1)^6} ##

(e) ##-100+ \dfrac{ \dfrac{10}{0.1} \left(1-\dfrac{1}{(1+0.1)^3} \right)}{(1+0.1)^3} +\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{10}{0.1-0.05}\right)}{(1+0.1)^5} ##

Question 190  pay back period

A project has the following cash flows:

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs)	Cash flow ($)
0	-400
1	0
2	500

What is the payback period of the project in years?

Normally cash flows are assumed to happen at the given time. But here, assume that the cash flows are received smoothly over the year. So the $500 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2.

(a) -0.80

(b) 0.80

(c) 1.20

(d) 1.80

(e) 2.20

Question 353  income and capital returns, inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows, real estate

A residential investment property has an expected nominal total return of 6% pa and nominal capital return of 3% pa.

Inflation is expected to be 2% pa. All rates are given as effective annual rates.

What are the property's expected real total, capital and income returns? The answer choices below are given in the same order.

(a) 3.9216%, 2.9412%, 0.9804%.

(b) 3.9216%, 0.9804%, 2.9412%.

(c) 3.9216%, 0.9804%, 0.9804%.

(d) 1.9804%, 1.0000%, 0.9804%.

(e) 1.9608%, 0.9804%, 0.9804%.

Question 117  WACC

A firm can issue 5 year annual coupon bonds at a yield of 8% pa and a coupon rate of 12% pa.

The beta of its levered equity is 1. Five year government bonds yield 5% pa with a coupon rate of 6% pa. The market's expected dividend return is 4% pa and its expected capital return is 6% pa.

The firm's debt-to-equity ratio is 2:1. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the firm's after-tax WACC? Assume a classical tax system.

(a) 9.47%

(b) 8.93%

(c) 8.53%

(d) 7.80%

(e) 7.07%

Question 45  profitability index

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Profitability Index (PI) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs)	Cash flow ($)
0	-100
1	0
2	121

(a) 1.21

(b) 1.1

(c) 1

(d) 0.82845

(e) 0

Question 191  NPV, IRR, profitability index, pay back period

A project's Profitability Index (PI) is less than 1. Select the most correct statement:

(a) The project should be rejected.

(b) The project's IRR is more than its required return.

(c) The project's payback period will be less than 3 years.

(d) The project's IRR is equal to its required return.

(e) The project's NPV is greater than 1.

Question 361  CFFA

Over the next year, the management of an unlevered company plans to:

• Make $5m in sales, $1.9m in net income and $2m in equity free cash flow (EFCF).
• Pay dividends of $1m.
• Complete a $1.3m share buy-back.

Assume that:

• All amounts are received and paid at the end of the year so you can ignore the time value of money.
• The firm has sufficient retained profits to legally pay the dividend and complete the buy back.
• The firm plans to run a very tight ship, with no excess cash above operating requirements currently or over the next year.

How much new equity financing will the company need? In other words, what is the value of new shares that will need to be issued?

(a) $2m

(b) $1m

(c) $0.4m

(d) $0.3m

(e) No new shares need to be issued, the firm will be sufficiently financed.

Question 207  income and capital returns, bond pricing, coupon rate, no explanation

For a bond that pays fixed semi-annual coupons, how is the annual coupon rate defined, and how is the bond's annual income yield from time 0 to 1 defined mathematically?

Let: ##P_0## be the bond price now,

##F_T## be the bond's face value,

##T## be the bond's maturity in years,

##r_\text{total}## be the bond's total yield,

##r_\text{income}## be the bond's income yield,

##r_\text{capital}## be the bond's capital yield, and

##C_t## be the bond's coupon at time t in years. So ##C_{0.5}## is the coupon in 6 months, ##C_1## is the coupon in 1 year, and so on.

(a) coupon rate = ##\dfrac{C_{0.5}+C_{1}}{F_T}##, ##r_\text{income, 0 to 1}=\dfrac{C_{0.5}(1+r_\text{total})^{0.5}+C_{1}}{P_0}##

(b) coupon rate = ##\dfrac{2 \times C_{0.5}}{F_T}##, ##r_\text{income, 0 to 1}=\dfrac{C_{0.5}(1+r_\text{capital})^{0.5}+C_{1}}{P_0}##

(c) coupon rate = ##\dfrac{2 \times C_{1}}{P_0}##, ##r_\text{income, 0 to 1}=\dfrac{C_{0.5}+C_{1}}{P_0}##

(d) coupon rate = ##\dfrac{2 \times C_{1}}{P_0}##, ##r_\text{income, 0 to 1}=\dfrac{2 \times C_{1}}{P_0}##

(e) coupon rate = ##\dfrac{2 \times C_{1}}{F_T}##, ##r_\text{income, 0 to 1}=\dfrac{C_{0.5}(1+r_\text{total})^{0.5}+C_{1}}{F_T}##

Question 441  DDM, income and capital returns

A fairly valued share's current price is $4 and it has a total required return of 30%. Dividends are paid annually and next year's dividend is expected to be $1. After that, dividends are expected to grow by 5% pa in perpetuity. All rates are effective annual returns.

What is the expected dividend income paid at the end of the second year (t=2) and what is the expected capital gain from just after the first dividend (t=1) to just after the second dividend (t=2)? The answers are given in the same order, the dividend and then the capital gain.

(a) $1.3, $0.26

(b) $1.25, $0.25

(c) $1.1025, $0.2205

(d) $1.05, $0.21

(e) $1, $0.2

Question 959  negative gearing, leverage, capital structure, interest tax shield, real estate

Last year, two friends Gear and Nogear invested in residential apartments. Each invested $1 million of their own money (their net wealth).

Apartments cost $1,000,000 last year and they earned net rents of $30,000 pa over the last year. Net rents are calculated as rent revenues less the costs of renting such as property maintenance, land tax and council rates. However, interest expense and personal income taxes are not deducted from net rents.

Gear and Nogear funded their purchases in different ways:

• Gear used $1,000,000 of her own money and borrowed $4,000,000 from the bank in the form of an interest-only loan with an interest rate of 5% pa to buy 5 apartments.
• Nogear used $1,000,000 of his own money to buy one apartment. He has no mortgage loan on his property.

Both Gear and Nogear also work in high-paying jobs and are subject personal marginal tax rates of 45%.

Which of the below statements about the past year is NOT correct?

(a) Gear’s total annual interest expense would have been $200,000.

(b) Gear’s total annual loss before tax on the investment properties was $50,000

(c) Gear’s total annual loss after tax on the investment properties was $27,500

(d) Gear’s total personal tax saving due to the investment properties was $22,500.

(e) Nogear’s total personal tax payable due to the investment property was $16,500.

Question 282  expected and historical returns, income and capital returns

You're the boss of an investment bank's equities research team. Your five analysts are each trying to find the expected total return over the next year of shares in a mining company. The mining firm:

• Is regarded as a mature company since it's quite stable in size and was floated around 30 years ago. It is not a high-growth company;
• Share price is very sensitive to changes in the price of the market portfolio, economic growth, the exchange rate and commodities prices. Due to this, its standard deviation of total returns is much higher than that of the market index;
• Experienced tough times in the last 10 years due to unexpected falls in commodity prices.
• Shares are traded in an active liquid market.

Your team of analysts present their findings, and everyone has different views. While there's no definitive true answer, whose calculation of the expected total return is the most plausible? Assume that:

• The analysts' source data is correct and true, but their inferences might be wrong;
• All returns and yields are given as effective annual nominal rates.

(a) Alice says 5% pa since she calculated that this was the average total yield on government bonds over the last 10 years. She says that this is also the expected total yield implied by current prices on one year government bonds.

(b) Bob says 4% pa since he calculated that this was the average total return on the mining stock over the last 10 years.

(c) Cate says 3% pa since she calculated that this was the average growth rate of the share price over the last 10 years.

(d) Dave says 6% pa since he calculated that this was the average growth rate of the share market price index (not the accumulation index) over the last 10 years.

(e) Eve says 15% pa since she calculated that this was the discount rate implied by the dividend discount model using the current share price, forecast dividend in one year and a 3% growth rate in dividends thereafter, which is the expected long term inflation rate.

Question 307  risk, variance

Let the variance of returns for a share per month be ##\sigma_\text{monthly}^2##.

What is the formula for the variance of the share's returns per year ##(\sigma_\text{yearly}^2)##?

Assume that returns are independently and identically distributed (iid) so they have zero auto correlation, meaning that if the return was higher than average today, it does not indicate that the return tomorrow will be higher or lower than average.

(a) ##\sigma_\text{yearly}^2 = \sigma_\text{monthly}^2##

(b) ##\sigma_\text{yearly}^2 = \sigma_\text{monthly}^2 \times 12##

(c) ##\sigma_\text{yearly}^2 = \sigma_\text{monthly}^2 \times 12^2##

(d) ##\sigma_\text{yearly}^2 = \sigma_\text{monthly}^2 \times \sqrt{12}##

(e) ##\sigma_\text{yearly}^2 = \sigma_\text{monthly}^2 \times {12}^{1/3}##