Fight Finance

Question 37  IRR

If a project's net present value (NPV) is zero, then its internal rate of return (IRR) will be:

(a) Positive infinity (##+\infty##)

(b) Zero (0).

(c) Less than the project's required return.

(d) More than the project's required return.

(e) Equal to the project's required return.

Question 156  APR, effective rate

A 2 year government bond yields 5% pa with a coupon rate of 6% pa, paid semi-annually.

Find the effective six month rate, effective annual rate and the effective daily rate. Assume that each month has 30 days and that there are 360 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

##r_\text{eff semi-annual}##, ##r_\text{eff yrly}##, ##r_\text{eff daily}##.

(a) 0.024695, 0.05, 0.000136.

(b) 0.025, 0.050625, 0.000137.

(c) 0.029563, 0.06, 0.000162.

(d) 0.03, 0.06, 0.000167.

(e) 0.03, 0.0609, 0.000164.

Question 206  CFFA, interest expense, interest tax shield

Interest expense (IntExp) is an important part of a company's income statement (or 'profit and loss' or 'statement of financial performance').

How does an accountant calculate the annual interest expense of a fixed-coupon bond that has a liquid secondary market? Select the most correct answer:

Annual interest expense is equal to:

(a) the bond's face value multiplied by its annual yield to maturity.

(b) the bond's face value multiplied by its annual coupon rate.

(c) the bond's market price at the start of the year multiplied by its annual yield to maturity.

(d) the bond's market price at the start of the year multiplied by its annual coupon rate.

(e) the future value of the actual cash payments of the bond over the year, grown to the end of the year, and grown by the bond's yield to maturity.

Question 326  CAPM

A fairly priced stock has an expected return equal to the market's. Treasury bonds yield 5% pa and the market portfolio's expected return is 10% pa. What is the stock's beta?

(a) 0

(b) 0.5

(c) 1

(d) 1.5

(e) 2

Question 348  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Estimate the US bank JP Morgan's share price using a price earnings (PE) multiples approach with the following assumptions and figures only:

• The major US banks JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Citi Group (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are comparable companies;
• JP Morgan Chase's historical earnings per share (EPS) is $4.37;
• Citi Group's share price is $50.05 and historical EPS is $4.26;
• Wells Fargo's share price is $48.98 and historical EPS is $3.89.

Note: Figures sourced from Google Finance on 24 March 2014.

(a) $53.2353

(b) $53.1831

(c) $53.0995

(d) $26.5498

(e) $2.7849

Question 653  future, continuously compounding rate

An equity index is currently at 4,800 points. The 1.5 year futures price is 5,100 points and the total required return is 6% pa with continuous compounding. Each index point is worth $25.

What is the implied dividend yield as a continuously compounded rate per annum?

(a) -0.0625% pa

(b) 1.9584% pa

(c) 3.0937% pa

(d) 4.0416% pa

(e) 6.0625% pa

Question 727  inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows

The Australian Federal Government lends money to domestic students to pay for their university education. This is known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). The nominal interest rate on the HECS loan is set equal to the consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate. The interest is capitalised every year, which means that the interest is added to the principal. The interest and principal does not need to be repaid by students until they finish study and begin working.

Which of the following statements about HECS loans is NOT correct?

(a) The real interest rate is zero.

(b) The nominal amount owing on the loan will increase at the inflation rate over time, if there are no extra payments or borrowings.

(c) The real amount owing on the loan in today's money will remain the same over time, if there are no extra payments or borrowings.

(d) The interest rate on the HECS loan advantages rich domestic students because they are able to pay off their debt sooner and avoid paying as much HECS interest.

(e) The interest rate on the HECS loan advantages all domestic students because the alternative of borrowing from the bank to pay for education would usually attract a higher interest rate.

Question 801  negative gearing, leverage, capital structure, no explanation

The following steps set out the process of ‘negative gearing’ an investment property in Australia. Which of these steps or statements is NOT correct? To successfully achieve negative gearing on an investment property:

(a) Buy an investment property with low expected future capital gains and high rental income, funded using a low proportion of debt (mortgage loan);

(b) Rent the investment property to a tenant;

(c) Negative gearing is achieved when the property investment’s annual taxable profit is negative, due to the loan’s interest expense being greater than the net rent (rental revenue less the renting expenses such as maintenance);

(d) Deduct the property’s income loss from the investor’s separate personal wage from labour. This means that the investor will pay less personal income tax than if they didn’t make the levered property investment;

(e) The investment property will be a positive-NPV investment if the capital gains are greater than the income losses on an after-tax, risk-adjusted, present-value basis.

Question 955  option, out of the money option

If a put option is out-of-the-money, then the spot price (##S_0##) is than, than or to the put option's strike price (##K_T##)?

Question 1000  duration, duration of a perpetuity with growth, needs refinement

An unlevered firm cuts its dividends and re-invests in zero-NPV projects with the same risk as its existing projects. This decreases the dividend yield, but increases the firm's equity's dividend growth rate and duration, while its total required return on equity remains unchanged. The equity can be valued as a perpetuity and the duration of a perpetuity is given below:

###D_\text{Macaulay} = \dfrac{1+r}{r-g}###

What will be the effect on the stock's CAPM beta? Assume that there's no change in the risk free rate or market risk premium. The company's equity beta will:

(a) Increase.

(b) Decrease.

(c) Remain unchanged.

(d) Not enough information is provided to answer the question.