1. CHAPTER 13 Capital Structure and Leverage
Business vs. financial risk
Optimal capital structure
Operating leverage
Capital structure theory

2. Key Concepts and Skills
Understand the effect of financial leverage on cash flows and cost of equity
Understand the impact of taxes and bankruptcy on capital structure choice

3. Business Risk, Operating Leverage Financial Risk, Financial Leverage
Part I
Business Risk, Operating Leverage
Financial Risk, Financial Leverage

4. What is business risk?
Uncertainty about future operating income (EBIT), i.e., how well can we predict operating income?
Note that business risk does not include effect of financial leverage.
Low risk
Probability
High risk
E(EBIT)
EBIT

5. What determines business risk?
Uncertainty about demand (sales).
Uncertainty about output prices.
Uncertainty about costs.
Product, other types of liability.
Competition.
Operating leverage.

6. What is operating leverage, and how does it affect a firm’s business risk?
OL is defined as (%change in EBIT)/(%change in sales).
Operating leverage is high if the production requires higher fixed costs and low variable costs.
High fixed cost can leverage small increase in sales into high increase in EBIT.

7. Effect of operating leverage
More operating leverage leads to more business risk, for then a small sales decline causes a big profit decline.
Sales $
Rev. TC FC
QBE }
Profit

8. Using operating leverage
Low operating leverage
Probability
High operating leverage
EBITL
EBITH
Typical situation: Can use operating leverage to get higher E(EBIT), but risk also increases.

9. What is financial leverage? Financial risk?
Financial leverage is defined as (%change in NI) / (% change in EBIT)
High usage of debt can leverage small increase in EBIT into big increase in net income.
Financial leverage is high with high level of debt.

10. What is Financial risk?
Financial risk is the additional risk concentrated on common stockholders as a result of financial leverage.
More debt, more financial leverage, more financial risk.
More debt will concentrate business risk on stockholders because debt holders do not bear business risk (in case of no bankruptcy).

11. A summary Operating Leverage Financial Leverage Business Risk
Financial Risk
%change in EBIT/%change in sales
%change in NI/%change in EBIT
Variability in the firm’s expected EBIT.
Additional variability in net income available to common shareholders.
Increase with higher fixed cost
Increase with higher debt
Increase with high OL.
Increase with high FL.
If a firm already has high business risk, you may want to use less debt to get less financial risk. If a firm has less business risk, you may afford high financial risk.

12. An example: Illustrating effects of financial leverage
Two firms with the same operating leverage, business risk, and probability distribution of EBIT.
Only differ with respect to their use of debt (capital structure).
Firm U Firm L
No debt $10,000 of 12% debt
$20,000 in assets $20,000 in assets
40% tax rate 40% tax rate

13. Firm U: Unleveraged Economy Bad Avg. Good Prob. 0.25 0.50 0.25
EBIT $2,000 $3,000 $4,000
Interest
EBT $2,000 $3,000 $4,000
Taxes (40%) , ,600
NI $1,200 $1,800 $2,400

14. Firm L: Leveraged Economy Bad Avg. Good Prob.* 0.25 0.50 0.25
EBIT* $2,000 $3,000 $4,000
Interest 1, , ,200
EBT $ $1,800 $2,800
Taxes (40%) ,120
NI $ $1,080 $1,680
*Same as for Firm U.

15. Ratio comparison between leveraged and unleveraged firms
FIRM U Bad Avg Good
BEP % % %
ROE % % %
BEP=EBIT/assets (basic earning power)
FIRM L Bad Avg Good
ROE % % %

16. Risk and return for leveraged and unleveraged firms
Expected Values:
Firm U Firm L
E(BEP) 15.0% = 15.0%
E(ROE) 9.0% < 10.8%
Risk Measures:
σROE 2.12% < 4.24%

17. The Effect of Leverage on profitability
How does leverage affect the EPS and ROE of a firm?
When we increase the amount of debt financing, we increase the fixed interest expense
If we have a good year (BEP > kd), then we pay our fixed interest cost and we have more left over for our stockholders
If we have a bad year (BEP < kd), we still have to pay our fixed interest costs and we have less left over for our stockholders
Leverage amplifies the variation in both EPS and ROE
Remind the students that if we increase the amount of debt in a restructuring, we are decreasing the amount of outstanding shares.

18. Conclusions
Basic earning power (BEP) is unaffected by financial leverage.
Firm L has higher expected ROE.
Firm L has much wider ROE (and EPS) swings because of fixed interest charges. Its higher expected return is accompanied by higher risk.

19. Quick Quiz
Explain the effect of leverage on expected ROE and risk

20. The degree of operating leverage is defined as:
a % change in EBIT_____
% change in Variable Cost
b % change in EBIT
% change in Sales
c. % change in Sales
% change in EBIT
d. % change in EBIT_______________
% change in contribution margin

21. Leverage will generally __________ shareholders' expected return and _________ their risk.
a. increase; decrease
b. decrease; increase
c. increase; increase
d. increase; do nothing to

22. what is its degree of operating leverage? a. 3.6 b. 4.2 c. 4.7 d. 5.0
If a 10 percent increase in sales causes EBIT to increase from $1mm to $1.50 mm,
what is its degree of operating leverage?
a. 3.6
b. 4.2
c. 4.7
d. 5.0
e. 5.5

23. Part II
Capital Structure

24. Capital Restructuring
We are going to look at how changes in capital structure affect the value of the firm, all else equal
Capital restructuring involves changing the amount of leverage a firm has without changing the firm’s assets
Increase leverage by issuing debt and repurchasing outstanding shares
Decrease leverage by issuing new shares and retiring outstanding debt

25. Choosing a Capital Structure
What is the primary goal of financial managers?
Maximize stockholder wealth
We want to choose the capital structure that will maximize stockholder wealth
We can maximize stockholder wealth by maximizing firm value (or equivalently minimizing WACC).
Remind students that the WACC is the appropriate discount rate for the risk of the firm’s assets. We can find the value of the firm by discounting the firm’s expected future cash flows at the discount rate – the process is the same as finding the value of anything else. Since value and discount rate move in opposite directions, firm value will be maximized when WACC is minimized.

26. Optimal Capital Structure
Objective: Choose capital structure (mix of debt v. common equity) at which stock price is maximized.
Trades off higher ROE and EPS against higher risk. The tax-related benefits of leverage are offset by the debt’s risk-related costs.

27. What effect does increasing debt have on the cost of equity for the firm?
If the level of debt increases, the riskiness of the firm increases.
The cost of debt will increase because bond rating will deteriorates with higher debt level.
Moreover, the riskiness of the firm’s equity also increases, resulting in a higher ks.

28. The Hamada Equation
Not Required

29. Finding Optimal Capital Structure
The firm’s optimal capital structure can be determined two ways:
Minimizes WACC.
Maximizes stock price.
Both methods yield the same results.

30. Table for calculating WACC and determining the minimum WACCks
12.00%
12.51
13.20
14.16
15.60
kd (1 – T)
0.00%
4.80
5.40
6.90
8.40
Amount borrowed $
250K
500K
750K
1,000K
D/A ratio
0.00%
12.50
25.00
37.50
50.00
WACC
12.00%
11.55
11.25
11.44
12.00

31. Table for determining the stock price maximizing capital structure
Amount
Borrowed
EPS k P s $
$3.00
12.00%
$25.00
250K
3.26
12.51
26.03
500K
3.55
13.20
26.89
750K
3.77
14.16
26.59
1,000K
3.90
15.60
25.00

32. What is this firm’s optimal capital structure?
Stock price P0 is maximized ($26.89) at D/A = 25%, so optimal D/A = 25%.
EPS is maximized at 50%(EPS= $3.90), but primary interest is stock price, not E(EPS).
We could push up E(EPS) by using more debt, but the higher risk more than offsets the benefit of higher E(EPS).

33. Capital Structure Theory Under Five Special Cases
Case I – Assumptions
No corporate or personal taxes
No bankruptcy costs
Case II – Assumptions
Corporate taxes, but no personal taxes
Case III – Assumptions
Bankruptcy costs
Case IV – Assumptions
Managers have private information
Case V – Assumptions
Managers tend to waste firm money and not work hard.

34. Case I: Ignoring taxes and Bankruptcy Cost
The value of the firm is NOT affected by changes in the capital structure
The cash flows of the firm do not change, therefore value doesn’t change
The WACC of the firm is NOT affected by capital structure
In this case, capital structure does not matter.
The main point with case I is that it doesn’t matter how we divide our cash flows between our stockholders and bondholders, the cash flow of the firm doesn’t change. Since the cash flows don’t change; and we haven’t changed the risk of existing cash flows, the value of the firm won’t change.

35. Figure 13.3

36. Case II consider taxes but ignore bankruptcy cost
Interest expense is tax deductible
Therefore, when a firm adds debt, it reduces taxes, all else equal
The reduction in taxes increases the firm value. Other things equal, the less tax paid to the IRS, the better off the firm.
Point out that the government effectively pays part of our interest expense for us; it is subsidizing a portion of the interest payment.

37. Case II consider taxes but ignore bankruptcy cost
The value of the firm increases by the present value of the annual interest tax shield
Value of a levered firm = value of an unlevered firm + PV of interest tax shield (VL = VU + DTC)
The WACC decreases as D/E increases because of the government subsidy on interest payments
RU is the cost of capital for an unlevered firm = RA for an unlevered firm
VU is jus the PV of the expected future cash flow from assets for an unlevered firm.

39. Illustration of Case II

40. Case III consider both taxes and bankruptcy cost
Now we add bankruptcy costs
As the D/E ratio increases, the probability of bankruptcy increases. This increased probability will increase the expected bankruptcy costs

41. Bankruptcy Costs (financial distress cost)
Direct bankruptcy costs
Legal and administrative costs
Creditors will stop lending money to the firm.
Indirect bankruptcy costs
Larger than direct costs, but more difficult to measure and estimate
Also have lost sales, interrupted operations and loss of valuable employees

42. Case III
At some point, the additional value of the interest tax shield will be offset by the expected bankruptcy cost
After this point, the value of the firm will start to decrease and the WACC will start to increase as more debt is added

44. Case III (also called Modigliani-Miller static Theory)
The graph shows MM’s tax benefit vs. bankruptcy cost theory.
With more debt, initially firm will benefit from tax reduction.
With high debt, the threat of financial distress becomes severe.
As financial conditions weaken, expected costs of financial distress can be large enough to outweigh the tax shield of debt financing.
Optimal debt level is some trade-off point.

45. Conclusions Case I – no taxes or bankruptcy costs
No optimal capital structure. Debt level does not matter.
Case II – corporate taxes but no bankruptcy costs
Optimal capital structure is 100% debt
More debt—more tax shield—higher firm value.
Case III – corporate taxes and bankruptcy costs
Optimal capital structure is part debt and part equity
Occurs where the marginal tax benefit from debt is just offset by the increase in bankruptcy costs

46. 3 cases

47. Case IV--Incorporating signaling effects
When managers know private information about the firm’s future than the market, there is a signaling effect.
Signaling theory suggests when firms issue new stocks, stock price will fall. Why?

48. What are “signaling” effects in capital structure?
Assume managers have better information about a firm’s long-run prospect than outside investors. They will issue stock if they think stock is overvalued; they will issue debt if they think stock is undervalued.
But outside investors are not stupid. They view a common stock offering as a negative signal--managers think stock is overvalued.

49. Case IV--Incorporating signaling effects
Conclusion: firms should maintain a lower debt level so that in case the firm needs to raise money in the future, it can issue debt rather than sell new stocks.

50. Case V—High debt constrains managers’ bad behavior
When would you more likely to go to a lavish restaurant?
1. After receiving a good salary.
2. After receiving a lot of credit card bills.

51. Case V—High debt constrains managers’ bad behavior
Managers tend to spend a lot of cash on lavish offices, corporate jets, etc.
With more debt, the need to pay interest and the threat of bankruptcy remind managers to waste less and work harder.
The fact that managers are not born to work whole heartedly for stockholders suggests using more debt.

52. Observed Capital Structure In Reality
Capital structure does differ by industries. Even for firms in same industry, capital structures may vary widely.
Lowest levels of debt
Drugs with 2.75% debt
Computers with 6.91% debt
Highest levels of debt
Steel with 55.84% debt
Department stores with 50.53% debt
See Table 13.5 in the book for more detail

53. Conclusions on Capital Structure
Need to recognize inputs (such as bankruptcy cost) are “guesstimates.”
As a result of imprecise estimates, capital structure decisions have a large judgmental content.
It may also mean you might feel the knowledge is not very “systematic” in this chapter. The textbook says that “if you feel our discussion of capital structure theory imprecise and somewhat confusing, you are not alone.”  .

54. How would these factors affect the target capital structure?
High sales volatility? decrease
High operating leverage? decrease
Increase in the corporate tax rate? increase
Increase in bankruptcy costs? decrease
Management spending lots of money on lavish perks? increase

55. The tax savings of the firm derived from the deductibility of interest expense is called the:
a. Interest tax shield.
b. Depreciable basis.
c. Financing umbrella.
d. Current yield.
e. Tax-loss carryforward savings.

56. A firm's optimal capital structure occurs where?
a. EPS are maximized, and WACC is minimized.
b. Stock price is maximized, and EPS are maximized.
c. Stock price is maximized, and WACC is maximized.
d. WACC is minimized, and stock price is maximized.
e. All of the above.

57. The unlevered cost of capital is
a. the cost of capital for a firm with no equity in its capital structure
b. the cost of capital for a firm with no debt in its capital structure
c. the interest tax shield times pretax net income
d. the cost of preferred stock for a firm with equal parts debt and common stock in its capital structure
e. equal to the profit margin for a firm with some debt in its capital structure

58. The explicit costs associated with corporate default, such as legal expenses, are the ____ of the firm
a. flotation costs
b. default beta coefficients
c. direct bankruptcy costs
d. indirect bankruptcy costs
e. default risk premia

59. The implicit costs associated with corporate default, such as lost sales, are the of the firm
a. flotation costs
b. default beta coefficients
c. direct bankruptcy costs
d. indirect bankruptcy costs
e. default risk premia

60. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from M&M Proposition I with taxes (case II in our slides)?
a. The value of an unlevered firm exceeds the value of a levered firm by the present value of the interest tax shield.
b. There is a linear relationship between the amount of debt in a levered firm and its value.
c. A levered firm can increase its value by reducing debt.
d. The optimal amount of leverage for a firm is not possible to determine.
e. The value of a levered firm is equal to its aftertax EBIT discounted by the unlevered cost of capital.

61. Which of the following statements regarding leverage is true?
a. If things go poorly for the firm, increased leverage provides greater returns to shareholders (as measured by ROE and EPS).
b. As a firm levers up, shareholders are exposed to more risk.
c. The benefits of leverage will be greater for a firm with substantial accumulated losses or other types of tax shields compared to a firm without many tax shields.
d. The benefits of leverage always outweigh the costs of financial distress.

62. If managers in a firm tend to waste shareholders’ money by spending too much on corporate jets, lavish offices, and so on,
then a firm may wants to use______ debt to mitigate this behavior.
a. more
b. less
c. It does not matter.

63. a. Issue debt to maintain the returns of equity holders.
If you know that your firm is facing relatively poor prospects but needs new capital, and you know that investors do not have this information, signaling theory would predict that you would:
a. Issue debt to maintain the returns of equity holders.
b. Issue equity to share the burden of decreased equity returns between old and new shareholders.
c. Be indifferent between issuing debt and equity.
d. Postpone going into capital markets until your firm’s prospects improve.