Chapter 9.

Integrated Case Model

Coleman Technologies is considering a major expansion program that has been proposed by the company’s
information technology group. Before proceeding with the expansion, the company needs to develop an estimate
of its cost of capital. Assume that you are an assistant to Jerry Lehman, the financial vice-president. Your
first task is to estimate Coleman’s cost of capital. Lehman has provided you with the following data, which he
believes may be relevant to your task:

(1) The firm’s tax rate is 40 percent.

(2) The current price of Coleman’s 12 percent coupon, semiannual payment, noncallable bonds with
15 years remaining to maturity is $1,153.72. Coleman does not use short-term interest-bearing
debt on a permanent basis. New bonds would be privately placed with no flotation cost.
(3) The current price of the firm’s 10 percent, $100 par value, quarterly dividend, perpetual
preferred stock is $111.10.
(4) Coleman’s common stock is currently selling at $50 per share. Its last dividend (D0) was
$4.19, and dividends are expected to grow at a constant rate of 5 percent in the foreseeable
future. Coleman’s beta is 1.2, the yield on T-bonds is 7 percent, and the market risk premium
is estimated to be 6 percent. For the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium approach, the firm uses a
4 percentage point risk premium.
(5) Coleman’s target capital structure is 30 percent long-term debt, 10 percent preferred stock,
and 60 percent common equity.

To structure the task somewhat, Lehman has asked you to answer the following questions.

INPUT DATA
Tax rate 40%

**Bond Info**
Coupon rate 12%
Coupons per year 2
Years to Maturity 15
Price $1,153.72
Face value $1,000

**Preferred Stock Info**

Nominal dividend rate 10%
Dividends per year 4
Par value $100
Price $111.10

**Common Stock Info**

Price $50
Current dividend $4.19
Constant growth rate 5%
β 1.2
kRF 7%
kM - kRF 6%
"Bond yield + RP" premium 4%
**Capital Structure Info**
Long-term debt 30%
Preferred stock 10%
Common equity 60%

(3) Should the costs be historical (embedded) costs or new (marginal) costs?

In financial management, the cost of capital is used primarily to make decisions that involve raising new capital.
Thus, the relevant component costs are today’s marginal costs rather than historical costs.

What is the market interest rate on Coleman’s debt and its component cost of debt?

Coleman’s 12 percent bond with 15 years to maturity is currently selling for $1,153.72. Thus, its yield to
maturity is 10 percent:

N 30
PV ($1,153.72)
PMT 60
FV $1,000

I 10%

The result of the RATE function must be multiplied by 2 since the coupon is paid semiannually. 10% is the
pre-tax cost of debt.

Since interest is tax deductible, Uncle Sam, in effect, pays part of the cost, and Coleman’s relevant component cost
of debt is the after-tax cost:

A-T kd 6.00%
(1) What is the firm’s cost of preferred stock?

Since the preferred issue is perpetual, its cost is estimated as follows:

kp = Dp / Pp
kp = $10 $111.10
kp = 9.00%

(2) What is Coleman’s estimated cost of common equity using the CAPM approach?

The CAPM estimate for Coleman’s cost of common equity is 14.2 percent.

kS = kRF + β * ( kM - kRF)
kS = 7% + 1.2 * 6%
kS = 14.20%

What is the estimated cost of common equity using the discounted cash flow (DCF) approach?

First, the next expected dividend must be determined.

D1 = D0 * ( 1 + g )
D1 = $4.19 * ( 1 + 0.05 )
D1 = $4.40
Since Coleman is a constant growth stock, the constant growth model can be used:

ks = D1 / P0 + g
ks = $4.40 / $50 + 0.05
ks = 13.80%

What is the bond-yield-plus-risk-premium estimate for Coleman’s cost of common equity?

The bond-yield-plus-risk-premium estimate is 14 percent:

ks = Bond yield + Risk premium

ks = 10% + 4%
ks = 14.00%

Note that the risk premium required in this method is difficult to estimate, so this approach only provides a
ballpark estimate of ks. It is useful, though, as a check on the DCF and CAPM estimates, which can, under
certain circumstances, produce unreasonable estimates.

What is your final estimate for ks?

The following table summarizes the ks estimates:

METHOD ESTIMATE
CAPM 14.20%
DCF 13.80%
kd + RP 14.00%
Average 14.00%

At this point, considerable judgment is required. If a method is deemed to be inferior due to the “quality” of its
inputs, then it might be given little weight or even disregarded. In our example, though, the three methods
produced relatively close results, so we decided to use the average, 14 percent, as our estimate for Coleman’s
cost of common equity.

Explain in words why new common stock has a higher percentage cost than retained earnings.

The company is raising money in order to make an investment. The money has a cost, and this cost is based
primarily on the investors’ required rate of return, considering risk and alternative investment opportunities.
So, the new investment must provide a return at least equal to the investors’ opportunity cost.

If the company raises capital by selling stock, the company doesn’t get all of the money that investors put up.
For example, if investors put up $100,000, and if they expect a 15 percent return on that $100,000, then
$15,000 of profits must be generated. But if flotation costs are 20 percent ($20,000), then the company will
receive only $80,000 of the $100,000 investors put up. That $80,000 must then produce a $15,000 profit, or a
$15/$80 = 18.75% rate of return versus a 15 percent return on equity raised as retained earnings.
(1) What are two approaches that can be used to account for flotation costs?

The first approach is to include the flotation costs as part of the project's up-front cost. This reduces the
project's estimated return. The second approach is to adjust the cost of capital to include flotation costs. This
is most commonly done by incorporating flotation costs in the DCF model.

(2) Coleman estimates that if it issues new common stock, the flotation cost will be 15 percent. Coleman
incorporates the flotation costs into the DCF approach. What is the estimated cost of newly issued
common stock, taking into account the flotation cost?

% Flotation cost 15%

If flotation costs are expected to be 15% of the price, we need to find the after-flotation proceeds to be received
from the stock.

A-F proceeds = Price x ( 1 - %F )

A-F proceeds = $50 x ( 1 - 0.15 )
A-F proceeds = $42.50

The cost of new common stock can now be found.

ks = D1 / A-F proceeds + g
ks = $4.40 / $42.50 + 0.05
ks = 15.35%

What is Coleman’s overall, or weighted average, cost of capital (WACC)? Ignore flotation costs.

Coleman’s WACC is 10.98 percent.

wd 30% A-T kd 6%
wp 10% kp 9.00% WACC = 11.10%
ws 60% ks 14.00%

What factors influence Coleman's composite WACC?

There are factors that the firm cannot control and those that they can control that influence WACC.

Factors the firm cannot control (generally market conditions):

level of interest rates
tax rates

Factors the firm can control:

Capital structure policy
Dividend policy
Investment policy
Should the company use the composite WACC as the hurdle rate for each of its projects?

No. The composite WACC reflects the risk of an average project undertaken by the firm. Therefore, the
WACC only represents the “hurdle rate” for a typical project with average risk. Different projects have
different risks. The project’s WACC should be adjusted to reflect the project’s risk.

What are three types of project risk? How is each type of risk used?

The three types of project risk are: (1) stand-alone risk, (2) corporate risk, and (3) market risk.

Market risk is theoretically best in most situations. However, creditors, customers, suppliers, and employees
are more affected by corporate risk. Therefore, corporate risk is also relevant. Stand-alone risk is the easiest
type of risk to measure.

Taking on a project with a high degree of either stand-alone or corporate risk will not necessarily affect the
firm’s market risk. However, if the project has highly uncertain returns, and if those returns are highly
correlated with returns on the firm’s other assets and with most other assets in the economy, the project will
have a high degree of all types of risk.

Coleman is interested in establishing a new division, which will focus primarily on developing new Internet-
based projects. In trying to determine the cost of capital for this new division, you discover that stand-alone
firms involved in similar projects have on average the following characteristics:

(1) Their capital structure is 40 percent debt and 60 percent common equity.
(2) Their cost of debt is typically 12 percent.
(3) The beta is 1.7.

Given this information, what would your estimate be for the division’s cost of capital? Note that Coleman uses the
CAPM to calculate the division's cost of capital.

wd 40%
ws 60%
kd 12%
Beta 1.7

kS = kRF + β * ( kM - kRF)
kS = 7% + 1.7 * 6%
kS = 17.20%

wd 40% A-T kd 7.20%

ws 60% ks 17.20% WACC = 13.20%

The division’s WACC = 13.2% vs. the corporate WACC = 11.1%. The division’s market risk is greater than
the firm’s average projects. Typical projects within this division would be accepted if their returns were above
13.2 percent.