Fight Finance

A European company just issued two bonds, a

• 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa, and a
• 3 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa.

What is the company's forward rate over the third year (from t=2 to t=3)? Give your answer as an effective annual rate, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.

A credit card offers an interest rate of 18% pa, compounding monthly.

Find the effective monthly rate, effective annual rate and the effective daily rate. Assume that there are 365 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

### r_\text{eff monthly} , r_\text{eff yearly} , r_\text{eff daily} ###

Your friend wants to borrow $1,000 and offers to pay you back $100 in 6 months, with more $100 payments at the end of every month for another 11 months. So there will be twelve $100 payments in total. She says that 12 payments of $100 equals $1,200 so she's being generous.

If interest rates are 12% pa, given as an APR compounding monthly, what is the Net Present Value (NPV) of your friend's deal?

What is the NPV of the following series of cash flows when the discount rate is 10% given as an effective annual rate?

The first payment of $90 is in 3 years, followed by payments every 6 months in perpetuity after that which shrink by 3% every 6 months. That is, the growth rate every 6 months is actually negative 3%, given as an effective 6 month rate. So the payment at ## t=3.5 ## years will be ## 90(1-0.03)^1=87.3 ##, and so on.

A bathroom and plumbing supplies shop offers credit to its customers. Customers are given 60 days to pay for their goods, but if they pay within 7 days they will get a 2% discount.

What is the effective interest rate implicit in the discount being offered? Assume 365 days in a year and that all customers pay on either the 7th day or the 60th day. All rates given in this question are effective annual rates.

A 180-day Bank Accepted Bill has a face value of $1,000,000. The interest rate is 8% pa and there are 365 days in the year. What is its price now?

What is the NPV of the following series of cash flows when the discount rate is 5% given as an effective annual rate?

The first payment of $10 is in 4 years, followed by payments every 6 months forever after that which shrink by 2% every 6 months. That is, the growth rate every 6 months is actually negative 2%, given as an effective 6 month rate. So the payment at ## t=4.5 ## years will be ## 10(1-0.02)^1=9.80 ##, and so on.

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

After year 4, the annual dividend will grow in perpetuity at 5% pa, so;

• the dividend at t=5 will be $1.15(1+0.05),
• the dividend at t=6 will be $1.15(1+0.05)^2, and so on.

The required return on the stock is 10% pa. Both the growth rate and required return are given as effective annual rates.

What will be the price of the stock in three and a half years (t = 3.5)?

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?

The phone company Telstra have 2 mobile service plans on offer which both have the same amount of phone call, text message and internet data credit. Both plans have a contract length of 24 months and the monthly cost is payable in advance. The only difference between the two plans is that one is a:

• 'Bring Your Own' (BYO) mobile service plan, costing $50 per month. There is no phone included in this plan. The other plan is a:
• 'Bundled' mobile service plan that comes with the latest smart phone, costing $71 per month. This plan includes the latest smart phone.

Neither plan has any additional payments at the start or end.

The only difference between the plans is the phone, so what is the implied cost of the phone as a present value?

Assume that the discount rate is 2% per month given as an effective monthly rate, the same high interest rate on credit cards.

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?

Most listed Australian companies pay dividends twice per year, the 'interim' and 'final' dividends, which are roughly 6 months apart.

You are an equities analyst trying to value the company BHP. You decide to use the Dividend Discount Model (DDM) as a starting point, so you study BHP's dividend history and you find that BHP tends to pay the same interim and final dividend each year, and that both grow by the same rate.

You expect BHP will pay a $0.55 interim dividend in six months and a $0.55 final dividend in one year. You expect each to grow by 4% next year and forever, so the interim and final dividends next year will be $0.572 each, and so on in perpetuity.

Assume BHP's cost of equity is 8% pa. All rates are quoted as nominal effective rates. The dividends are nominal cash flows and the inflation rate is 2.5% pa.

What is the current price of a BHP share?

A three year project's NPV is negative. The cash flows of the project include a negative cash flow at the very start and positive cash flows over its short life. The required return of the project is 10% pa. Select the most correct statement.

You just borrowed $400,000 in the form of a 25 year interest-only mortgage with monthly payments of $3,000 per month. The interest rate is 9% pa which is not expected to change.

You actually plan to pay more than the required interest payment. You plan to pay $3,300 in mortgage payments every month, which your mortgage lender allows. These extra payments will reduce the principal and the minimum interest payment required each month.

At the maturity of the mortgage, what will be the principal? That is, after the last (300th) interest payment of $3,300 in 25 years, how much will be owing on the mortgage?

A project to build a toll bridge will take two years to complete, costing three payments of $100 million at the start of each year for the next three years, that is at t=0, 1 and 2.

After completion, the toll bridge will yield a constant $50 million at the end of each year for the next 10 years. So the first payment will be at t=3 and the last at t=12. After the last payment at t=12, the bridge will be given to the government.

The required return of the project is 21% pa given as an effective annual nominal rate.

All cash flows are real and the expected inflation rate is 10% pa given as an effective annual rate. Ignore taxes.

The Net Present Value is:

A manufacturing company is considering a new project in the more risky services industry. The cash flows from assets (CFFA) are estimated for the new project, with interest expense excluded from the calculations. To get the levered value of the project, what should these unlevered cash flows be discounted by?

Assume that the manufacturing firm has a target debt-to-assets ratio that it sticks to.

Which statement about risk, required return and capital structure is the most correct?

Due to floods overseas, there is a cut in the supply of the mineral iron ore and its price increases dramatically. An Australian iron ore mining company therefore expects a large but temporary increase in its profit and cash flows. The mining company does not have any positive NPV projects to begin, so what should it do? Select the most correct answer.

A firm's weighted average cost of capital before tax (##r_\text{WACC before tax}##) would increase due to:

A company has:

• 50 million shares outstanding.
• The market price of one share is currently $6.
• The risk-free rate is 5% and the market return is 10%.
• Market analysts believe that the company's ordinary shares have a beta of 2.
• The company has 1 million preferred stock which have a face (or par) value of $100 and pay a constant dividend of 10% of par. They currently trade for $80 each.
• The company's debentures are publicly traded and their market price is equal to 90% of their face value.
• The debentures have a total face value of $60,000,000 and the current yield to maturity of corporate debentures is 10% per annum. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the company's after-tax weighted average cost of capital (WACC)? Assume a classical tax system.

What is the expected return of the above portfolio?

Stock A and B's returns have a correlation of 0.3. Which statement is NOT correct?

A firm can issue 3 year annual coupon bonds at a yield of 10% pa and a coupon rate of 8% pa.

The beta of its levered equity is 2. The market's expected return is 10% pa and 3 year government bonds yield 6% pa with a coupon rate of 4% pa.

The market value of equity is $1 million and the market value of debt is $1 million. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

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

A retail furniture company buys furniture wholesale and distributes it through its retail stores. The owner believes that she has some good ideas for making stylish new furniture. She is considering a project to buy a factory and employ workers to manufacture the new furniture she's designed. Furniture manufacturing has more systematic risk than furniture retailing.

Her furniture retailing firm's after-tax WACC is 20%. Furniture manufacturing firms have an after-tax WACC of 30%. Both firms are optimally geared. Assume a classical tax system.

Which method(s) will give the correct valuation of the new furniture-making project? Select the most correct answer.

A firm has a debt-to-assets ratio of 50%. The firm then issues a large amount of equity to raise money for new projects of similar systematic risk to the company's existing projects. Assume a classical tax system. Which statement is correct?

The equations for Net Income (NI, also known as Earnings or Net Profit After Tax) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA, also known as Free Cash Flow to the Firm) per year are:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

For a firm with debt, what is the formula for the present value of interest tax shields if the tax shields occur in perpetuity?

You may assume:

• the value of debt (D) is constant through time,
• The cost of debt and the yield on debt are equal and given by ##r_D##.
• the appropriate rate to discount interest tax shields is ##r_D##.
• ##\text{IntExp}=D.r_D##

A firm changes its capital structure by issuing a large amount of debt and using the funds to repurchase shares. Its assets are unchanged. Ignore interest tax shields.

According to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which statement is correct?

An established mining firm announces that it expects large losses over the following year due to flooding which has temporarily stalled production at its mines. Which statement(s) are correct?

(i) If the firm adheres to a full dividend payout policy it will not pay any dividends over the following year.

(ii) If the firm wants to signal that the loss is temporary it will maintain the same level of dividends. It can do this so long as it has enough retained profits.

(iii) By law, the firm will be unable to pay a dividend over the following year because it cannot pay a dividend when it makes a loss.

Select the most correct response:

Below are 4 option graphs. Note that the y-axis is payoff at maturity (T). What options do they depict? List them in the order that they are numbered.

A person is thinking about borrowing $100 from the bank at 7% pa and investing it in shares with an expected return of 10% pa. One year later the person intends to sell the shares and pay back the loan in full. Both the loan and the shares are fairly priced.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of this one year investment? Note that you are asked to find the present value (##V_0##), not the value in one year (##V_1##).

All things remaining equal, the variance of a portfolio of two positively-weighted stocks rises as:

A firm's WACC before tax would decrease due to:

A firm changes its capital structure by issuing a large amount of equity and using the funds to repay debt. Its assets are unchanged. Ignore interest tax shields.

According to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which statement is correct?

A zero coupon bond that matures in 6 months has a face value of $1,000.

The firm that issued this bond is trying to forecast its income statement for the year. It needs to calculate the interest expense of the bond this year.

The bond is highly illiquid and hasn't traded on the market. But the finance department have assessed the bond's fair value to be $950 and this is its book value right now at the start of the year.

Assume that:

• the firm uses the 'effective interest method' to calculate interest expense.
• the market value of the bond is the same as the book value.
• the firm is only interested in this bond's interest expense. Do not include the interest expense for a new bond issued to refinance the current one, as would normally happen.

What will be the interest expense of the bond this year for the purpose of forecasting the income statement?

Your credit card shows a $600 debt liability. The interest rate is 24% pa, payable monthly. You can't pay any of the debt off, except in 6 months when it's your birthday and you'll receive $50 which you'll use to pay off the credit card. If that is your only repayment, how much will the credit card debt liability be one year from now?

The following cash flows are expected:

• 10 yearly payments of $60, with the first payment in 3 years from now (first payment at t=3 and last at t=12).
• 1 payment of $400 in 5 years and 6 months (t=5.5) from now.

What is the NPV of the cash flows if the discount rate is 10% given as an effective annual rate?

The following is the Dividend Discount Model used to price stocks:

### p_0=\frac{d_1}{r-g} ###

Which of the following statements about the Dividend Discount Model is NOT correct?

Details of two different types of light bulbs are given below:

• Low-energy light bulbs cost $3.50, have a life of nine years, and use about $1.60 of electricity a year, paid at the end of each year.
• Conventional light bulbs cost only $0.50, but last only about a year and use about $6.60 of energy a year, paid at the end of each year.

The real discount rate is 5%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that all cash flows are real. The inflation rate is 3% given as an effective annual rate.

Find the Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC) of the low-energy and conventional light bulbs. The below choices are listed in that order.

A highly levered risky firm is trying to raise more debt. The types of debt being considered, in no particular order, are senior bonds, junior bonds, bank accepted bills, promissory notes and bank loans.

Which of these forms of debt is the safest from the perspective of the debt investors who are thinking of investing in the firm's new debt?

Currently, a mining company has a share price of $6 and pays constant annual dividends of $0.50. The next dividend will be paid in 1 year. Suddenly and unexpectedly the mining company announces that due to higher than expected profits, all of these windfall profits will be paid as a special dividend of $0.30 in 1 year.

If investors believe that the windfall profits and dividend is a one-off event, what will be the new share price? If investors believe that the additional dividend is actually permanent and will continue to be paid, what will be the new share price? Assume that the required return on equity is unchanged. Choose from the following, where the first share price includes the one-off increase in earnings and dividends for the first year only ##(P_\text{0 one-off})## , and the second assumes that the increase is permanent ##(P_\text{0 permanent})##:

Note: When a firm makes excess profits they sometimes pay them out as special dividends. Special dividends are just like ordinary dividends but they are one-off and investors do not expect them to continue, unlike ordinary dividends which are expected to persist.

There are a number of ways that assets can be depreciated. Generally the government's tax office stipulates a certain method.

But if it didn't, what would be the ideal way to depreciate an asset from the perspective of a businesses owner?

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.

In mid 2009 the listed mining company Rio Tinto announced a 21-for-40 renounceable rights issue. Below is the chronology of events:

• 04/06/2009. Share price opens at $69.00 and closes at $66.90.

• 05/06/2009. 21-for-40 rights issue announced at a subscription price of $28.29.

• 16/06/2009. Last day that shares trade cum-rights. Share price opens at $76.40 and closes at $75.50.

• 17/06/2009. Shares trade ex-rights. Rights trading commences.

All things remaining equal, what would you expect Rio Tinto's stock price to open at on the first day that it trades ex-rights (17/6/2009)? Ignore the time value of money since time is negligibly short. Also ignore taxes.

Your friend overheard that you need some cash and asks if you would like to borrow some money. She can lend you $5,000 now (t=0), and in return she wants you to pay her back $1,000 in two years (t=2) and every year after that for the next 5 years, so there will be 6 payments of $1,000 from t=2 to t=7 inclusive.

What is the net present value (NPV) of borrowing from your friend?

Assume that banks loan funds at interest rates of 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

A stock is just about to pay a dividend of $1 tonight. Future annual dividends are expected to grow by 2% pa. The next dividend of $1 will be paid tonight, and the year after that the dividend will be $1.02 (=1*(1+0.02)^1), and a year later 1.0404 (=1*(1+0.04)^2) and so on forever.

Its required total return is 10% pa. The total required return and growth rate of dividends are given as effective annual rates.

Calculate the current stock price.

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

###P_0=\frac{d_1}{r-g}###

A stock pays dividends annually. It just paid a dividend, but the next dividend (##d_1##) will be paid in one year.

According to the DDM, what is the correct formula for the expected price of the stock in 2.5 years?