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

Treasury auction cycle, The treasury auction cycle constitutes weekly...

The treasury auction cycle constitutes weekly auctions in case of 3-month and 6-month bills and auction for every fourth week in case of yearly bills. These are f

Explain the disadvantages of ifrs 8, Disadvantages of IFRS 8 Recon...

Disadvantages of IFRS 8 Reconciliations may be time consuming. Less comparable with other organisations, as every entity has a different way of running their business.

Define believe an increased common stock cash dividend, Do you believe an i...

Do you believe an increased common stock cash dividend can send a signal to the common stockholders?  If so, what signal might it send? An increase in cash dividends is frequentl

Agency theory, AGENCY THEORY An agency relationship may be defined as a...

AGENCY THEORY An agency relationship may be defined as a contract under which one or more people (the principals) hire another person (the agent) to perform some services on th

Cost of sales and functioning costs, Entity A is significantly smaller than...

Entity A is significantly smaller than B in terms of revenue and would not impact LOP's revenue to the same extent. However A earns a noticeably better gross profit margin at 26% a

Written report on company, I have a assignment of financial accounting It...

I have a assignment of financial accounting Its a report on company Assignment length 2000 words

Evaluate the critical path, a) Definitions of EST and LFT needed in order t...

a) Definitions of EST and LFT needed in order to explain the differentiation between the terms. The EST of each activity will depend on the LFT of all preceding activities. b) S

Dividend decision, Dividend Decision: The Dividend Decision is a decis...

Dividend Decision: The Dividend Decision is a decision taken by the directors of a company. It relates to the timing of any cash payments and amount made to the company's stoc

Foreign exchange markets, At current interest rates and exchange rates...

At current interest rates and exchange rates, the US might have a $400 billion net financial (capital) account inflow from the rest of the world during 2010, and the

Expansion financing, The securing of the working capital needed for the sup...

The securing of the working capital needed for the support of raises in accounts receivable and inventory related with an organizations initial expansion time.

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