Question 96 bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate
An Australian company just issued two bonds paying semi-annual coupons:
- 1 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa, and a
- 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa.
What is the forward rate on the company's debt from years 1 to 2? Give your answer as an APR compounding every 6 months, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.
You just bought a nice dress which you plan to wear once per month on nights out. You bought it a moment ago for $600 (at t=0). In your experience, dresses used once per month last for 6 years.
Your younger sister is a student with no money and wants to borrow your dress once a month when she hits the town. With the increased use, your dress will only last for another 3 years rather than 6.
What is the present value of the cost of letting your sister use your current dress for the next 3 years?
Assume: that bank interest rates are 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate; you will buy a new dress when your current one wears out; your sister will only use the current dress, not the next one that you will buy; and the price of a new dress never changes.
Question 370 capital budgeting, NPV, interest tax shield, WACC, CFFA
Project Data | ||
Project life | 2 yrs | |
Initial investment in equipment | $600k | |
Depreciation of equipment per year | $250k | |
Expected sale price of equipment at end of project | $200k | |
Revenue per job | $12k | |
Variable cost per job | $4k | |
Quantity of jobs per year | 120 | |
Fixed costs per year, paid at the end of each year | $100k | |
Interest expense in first year (at t=1) | $16.091k | |
Interest expense in second year (at t=2) | $9.711k | |
Tax rate | 30% | |
Government treasury bond yield | 5% | |
Bank loan debt yield | 6% | |
Levered cost of equity | 12.5% | |
Market portfolio return | 10% | |
Beta of assets | 1.24 | |
Beta of levered equity | 1.5 | |
Firm's and project's debt-to-equity ratio | 25% | |
Notes
- The project will require an immediate purchase of $50k of inventory, which will all be sold at cost when the project ends. Current liabilities are negligible so they can be ignored.
Assumptions
- The debt-to-equity ratio will be kept constant throughout the life of the project. The amount of interest expense at the end of each period has been correctly calculated to maintain this constant debt-to-equity ratio. Note that interest expense is different in each year.
- Thousands are represented by 'k' (kilo).
- All cash flows occur at the start or end of the year as appropriate, not in the middle or throughout the year.
- All rates and cash flows are nominal. The inflation rate is 2% pa.
- All rates are given as effective annual rates.
- The 50% capital gains tax discount is not available since the project is undertaken by a firm, not an individual.
What is the net present value (NPV) of the project?
Question 472 quick ratio, accounting ratio
A firm has current assets totaling $1.5b of which cash is $0.25b and inventories is $0.5b. Current liabilities total $2b of which accounts payable is $1b.
What is the firm's quick ratio, also known as the acid test ratio?
Question 526 real and nominal returns and cash flows, inflation, no explanation
How can a nominal cash flow be precisely converted into a real cash flow?
An investor owns a whole level of an old office building which is currently worth $1 million. There are three mutually exclusive projects that can be started by the investor. The office building level can be:
- Rented out to a tenant for one year at $0.1m paid immediately, and then sold for $0.99m in one year.
- Refurbished into more modern commercial office rooms at a cost of $1m now, and then sold for $2.4m when the refurbishment is finished in one year.
- Converted into residential apartments at a cost of $2m now, and then sold for $3.4m when the conversion is finished in one year.
All of the development projects have the same risk so the required return of each is 10% pa. The table below shows the estimated cash flows and internal rates of returns (IRR's).
Mutually Exclusive Projects | |||
Project | Cash flow now ($) |
Cash flow in one year ($) |
IRR (% pa) |
Rent then sell as is | -900,000 | 990,000 | 10 |
Refurbishment into modern offices | -2,000,000 | 2,400,000 | 20 |
Conversion into residential apartments | -3,000,000 | 3,400,000 | 13.33 |
Which project should the investor accept?
Question 743 price gains and returns over time, no explanation
How many years will it take for an asset's price to triple (increase from say $1 to $3) if it grows by 5% pa?
Question 796 option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing, option delta, no explanation
Which of the following quantities from the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing formula gives the risk-neutral probability that a European call option will be exercised?
Which type of business organisation has the most checks and balances against the detrimental effects of the principal-agent problem since it's potentially the most exposed?