Working Capital Management, Financial Management

Assignment Help:
The management of Nelson plc wish to estimate their firm’s equity beta. Nelson has had a stock market quotation for only two months and the financial management feels that it would be inappropriate to estimate beta from the actual share price behavior over such a short period. Instead it is proposed to ascertain, and where necessary adjust, the observed equity betas of other companies operating in the same industry, and with the same operating characteristics as Nelson, as these should be based on similar levels of systematic risk and be capable of providing an accurate estimate of Nelson’s beta

Three companies have been identified as firms having operations in the same industry as Nelson with identical operating characteristics. However, only one company, Oak plc, operates exclusively in the same industry as Nelson. The other two companies have some dissimilar activities or opportunities in additional to those which are the same as those of Nelson.

Details of the three companies are as follows;

a. Oak plc has an observed equity beta of 1.12. The capital structure at market value is 60% equity, 40% debt.

b. Beech plc has an observed equity beta of 1.11. It is estimated that 30% of the current market value of Beech is caused by risky growth opportunities which have an estimated beta of 1.9. The growth opportunities are reflected in the observed beta. Beech’s other activities are the same as Nelson’s. Beech is financed entirely by equity.


c. Pine plc has an observed equity beta of 1.14. Pine has two divisions, East and West. East’s operating characteristics are considered to be identical to those of Nelson. The operating characteristics of West are considered to be 50% more risky than those of East. In terms of financial valuation East is estimated as being twice as valuable as west. The capital structure of Pine at market values is 75% equity, 25% debt.

Nelson is financed by equity. The tax rate is 40%.

Required

a. Assuming all debt is virtually risk-free, make three estimate of the equity beta of Nelson plc. The three estimates should be based, separately, on the information provided for Oak, Beech and Pine.

b. Explain why the estimated beta of Nelson, when eventually determined from observed share price movements, may differ from the value derived from the approach in (a) above.

c. State the reason why a company has a very volatile share price and is generally considered to be extremely risky can have a lower beta value, and therefore lower financial risk, than an equally geared firm whose share price is much less volatile.

Related Discussions:- Working Capital Management

Benefits of securitization, Securitization has attracted a widespread...

Securitization has attracted a widespread application of the technique to residential mortgage loan, the easiest class of a financial asset to securitize, and to

Advantage and disadvantage of aggressive working capital, What are the adva...

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the aggressive working capital financing approach? An aggressive working capital financing approach generally results in a lower cost

Dividends paper, one page paper reviewing "the Morgan Stanley Oil and Gas R...

one page paper reviewing "the Morgan Stanley Oil and Gas Report"

Explain the country’s balance of payments data, Why would it be useful to e...

Why would it be useful to examine a country’s balance of payments data? Answer:  It would be helpful to observe a country’s BOP for at least two reasons. First, BOP offers detail

Strategies of hedge funds, Strategies of Hedge Funds: Hedge funds use ...

Strategies of Hedge Funds: Hedge funds use a range of different strategies, and each fund manager can argue that he or she is unique and could not be compared to other manager

financial crisis, Hedge funds are short two types of funding options. Desc...

Hedge funds are short two types of funding options. Describe in detail what these options are.   Describe why these options become more valuable during a financial crisis.   During

How cash flow problems arise, Q. How cash flow problems arise? It is si...

Q. How cash flow problems arise? It is significant first to distinguish between profitability and cash availability. The key scheme relates to insolvency since even profitable

Explain the internalization theory of fdi, Normal 0 false fal...

Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Problems in computations of cost of retaining earning, Q. Problems in compu...

Q. Problems in computations of cost of retaining earning? Problems in computations of cost of retaining earning: it is sometimes argued that retained earning do not involve any

Define the primary reasons that companies hold cash, What are the primary r...

What are the primary reasons that companies hold cash? Companies hold cash to make essential payments, to take benefit of opportunities as they arise, and to cover unforeseen eme

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd