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

Explain and derive the international fisher effect, Explain and derive the ...

Explain and derive the international Fisher effect. Answer:  The international Fisher effect can be acquired by combining the Fisher effect and the relative version of purchasi

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IS INTERDISCIPLINARY, RELATIONSHIP OF FINANCIAL MANAGE...

RELATIONSHIP OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT WITH OTHER BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

Define mergers affect consumers, How do mergers affect consumers? A: Th...

How do mergers affect consumers? A: The impacts mergers have on consumers vary widely. There may be a few inconvenience and anxiety when a customer's bank or branch is obtained

Deriving 6-month forward rates, Using details from table 8, let us co...

Using details from table 8, let us compute the 6-month forward rate. Simple arbitrage principle, like the one used to compute the spot rates are used in this proc

Explain retail and wholesale banks in commercial banking, Explain about the...

Explain about the retail and wholesale banks in the commercial banking. Retail and wholesale banks: Commercial banking can also be separated within retail and wholesale b

Step by step approach to completing a statement, Step by step approach to ...

Step by step approach to completing a statement of cash flows Step by step approach to completing a statement of cash flows Step 1

Show limitations of profit maximization, Q. Show Limitations of Profit maxi...

Q. Show Limitations of Profit maximization? The Profit maximization criterion is criticized on the following grounds: i) Quality of Benefits: Profit maximization approach ig

Explain arr and payback, ARR AND PAYBACK (a) Accounting rate of retur...

ARR AND PAYBACK (a) Accounting rate of return (ARR) is a computation of the return on an investment where the annual profit prior to interest and tax is expressed as a percen

Calculation of weighted average cost of capital, Calculation of Weighted Av...

Calculation of Weighted Average Cost of Capital The calculation of weighted cost of capital involves the following steps: (i) Calculate the cost of each source of funds.

Capital asset pricing model, Cascade Water Company (CWC) currently has 30 0...

Cascade Water Company (CWC) currently has 30 000 shares of common stock outstanding, trading at a price of R42 per share. CWC also has 500 000 bonds outstanding that are currently

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