DEBTS are often neglected in company analysis and valuations. Red flags.

Look out for companies that report consistent profits but also a substantial rise in gearing, which would indicate negative FCF.  

Receivables and/or inventories rise even faster than increasing sales

This is usually the case when companies report increasing sales but where receivables and/or inventories rise even faster.

If a company's receivables grow at a much faster rate than revenue, it will suffer net cash outflows, which have to be funded with increasing debt (or cash calls).  It can continue to report steady profits for many years - even as the company is being crushed by mounting debt and interest expenses.   Investors who are fixated on earnings would not realise the looming issue until it is too late.

Paying dividends in excess of cash flow from operations

Companies that pay dividends in excess of cash flow from operations may also warrant a red flag.  

This is the danger when management's interest are not always aligned with that of shareholders.  The fact is that management remuneration/incentives are usually based on profitability and share price gains, which encourages short-termism and risk-taking, including using leverage to boost earnings.  Anecdotal evidence shows that high dividends/share buybacks tend to lead to higher share prices.

Indeed, sometimes not all shareholder's interests align either.  Some are short term, preferring dividends/share buybacks while longer-term-minded investors would prefer companies to conserve cash for future opportunities and/or pay down their debts.

Borrowing to invest in productive assets

Companies necessarily reinvest for the future, funded with internally generated funds and/or borrowings and equity cash calls.  Borrowing to invest in productive assets that will generate future cash flows is perfectly fine - as long as the increased risks that come with it are understood and properly taken into consideration.

Company with less debts is less risky and better positioned

Company that pay off its debts would be better positioned to withstand any unexpected economic and financial shocks - thereby making it the safer investment.  It would be better able to capitalise on future opportunities - for example, mergers and acquisitions, relative to its competitors which large debts, thanks to its stronger balance sheet.

Conclusions

There will always exist a trade-off between risks and rewards.  It is important to analyse both aspects in tandem.  

There is nothing wrong if you choose to go for the higher returns, provided you also understand the risks and can stomach the potential losses.  

Some investors are risk takers, others are more risk-averse, but the smartest investors make informed decisions.

Capital Structure, Dividends and Share Repurchases

There is usually more to lose than to gain when making a decision in this area.

Managers should manage capital structure with the goal of not destroying value as opposed to trying to create value.

There are three components of a company's financial decisions:

1. how much to invest,
2. how much debt to have, and 
3. how much cash to return to shareholders.

Choices concerning capital structure

Managers have many choices concerning capital structure, for example,

1. using equity,
2. straight debt,
3. convertibles and
4. off-balance-sheet financing.

Managers can create value from using tools other than equity and straight debt under only a few conditions.

Even when using more exotic forms of financing like convertibles and preferred stock, fundamentally it is a choice between debt and equity.




Debt and Equity Financial Choices trade-offs

Managers must recognise the many trade-offs to both the firm and investors when choosing between debt and equity financing.

The firm increases risk but saves on taxes by using debt; however, investing in debt rather than equity probably increases the tax liability to investors.

Debt has been shown to impose a discipline on managers and discourage over investment, but it can also lead to business erosion and bankruptcy.

Higher debt increases the conflicts among the stakeholders.




Credit rating is a useful indicator of capital structure health

Most companies choose a capital structure that gives them a credit rating between BBB- and A+, which indicates these are effective ratings and capital structure does not have a large effect on value in most cases.

The capital structure can make a difference for companies at the far end of the coverage spectrum.

Credit ratings

• are a useful summary indicator of capital structure health and 
• are a means of communicating information to shareholders.

The two main determinants of credit ratings are

• size and 
• interest coverage.

Two important coverage ratios are

• the EBITA to interest ratio and 
• the debt to EBITA ratio.

The former is a short-term measure, and the latter is more useful for long-term planning.




Methods to manage capital structure

Managers must weight the benefits of managing capital structure against

• the costs of the choices and 
• the possible signals the choices send to investors.

Methods to manage capital structure include

• changing the dividends, 
• issuing and buying back equity, and
• issuing and paying off debt

When designing a long-term capital structure, the firm should

• project surpluses and deficits, 
• develop a target capital structure, and 
• decide on tactical measures.  

The tactical, short-term tools include

• changing the dividend,
• repurchasing shares, and 
• paying an extraordinary dividend.

Investors' Minimum Required Rates of Return, Cost of Debt and Cost of Equity

A company may raise capital by issuing

• debt or 
• equity, 

Both of which have associated costs.



Investors' Minimum Required Rates of Return

Investors' minimum required rates of return refer to the return they require for providing funds to the company.



Cost of Debts

A company's cost of debt is easy to estimate as it is reflected in the interest payments that the company is contractually obligated to make to debt holders.

For investors who provide debt capital to the company, their minimum required rate of return is the periodic interest rate they charge the company for using their funds.

All providers of debt capital receive the same interest rate.

Therefore, the company's cost of debt and investor's minimum required rate of return on debt are the same.



Cost of Equity

Estimating cost of equity is difficult because the company is not contractually obligated to make any payments to common shareholders.

For investors who provide equity capital tot he company, the future cash flows that they expect to receive are uncertain (in both timing and amount), so their minimum required rate of return must be estimated.

Further, each investor may have different expectations regarding future cash flows.

Therefore, the company's cost of equity may be different from investors' minimum required rate of return on equity.





Additional notes:

The company's cost of equity can be estimated using the dividend discount model (DDM) and capital asset pricing model (CAPM).

The costs of debt and equity are used to estimate a company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which represents the minimum required rate of return that the company must earn on its investments.

Leverage and Risk

The most obvious risk of leverage is that it multiplies losses. 

• A corporation that borrows too much money might face bankruptcy during a business downturn, while a less-levered corporation might survive. 
• An investor who buys a stock on 50% margin will lose 40% of his money if the stock declines 20%.

There is an important implicit assumption in that account, however, which is that the underlying levered asset is the same as the unlevered one.

• If a company borrows money to modernize, or add to its product line, or expand internationally, the additional diversification might more than offset the additional risk from leverage.  
• Or if an investor uses a fraction of his or her portfolio to margin stock index futures and puts the rest in a money market fund, he or she might have the same volatility and expected return as an investor in an unlevered equity index fund, with a limited downside.

So while adding leverage to a given asset always adds risk, it is not the case that a levered company or investment is always riskier than an unlevered one. In fact, many highly-levered hedge funds have less return volatility than unlevered bond funds, and public utilities with lots of debt are usually less risky stocks than unlevered technology companies.

Popular risks

There is a popular prejudice against leverage rooted in the observation that people who borrow a lot of money often end up badly. But the issue here is those people are not leveraging anything, they're borrowing money for consumption.

In finance, the general practice is to borrow money to buy an asset with a higher return than the interest on the debt. That at least might work out. People who consistently spend more than they make have a problem, but it's overspending (or underearning), not leverage. The same point is more controversial for governments.

People sometimes borrow money out of desperation rather than calculation. That also is not leverage. But it is true that leverage sometimes increases involuntarily. When Long-Term Capital Management collapsed with over 100 to 1 leverage, it wasn't that the principals tried to run the firm at 100 to 1 leverage, it was that as equity eroded and they were unable to liquidate positions, the leverage level was beyond their control. One hundred to one leverage was a symptom of their problems, not the cause (although, of course, part of the cause was the 27 to 1 leverage the firm was running before it got into trouble, and the 55 to 1 leverage it had been forced up to by mid-August 1998 before the real troubles started).  But the point is the fact that collapsing entities often have a lot of leverage does not mean that leverage causes collapses.

Involuntary leverage is a risk.  It means that as things get bad, leverage goes up, multiplying losses as things continue to go down. This can lead to rapid ruin, even if the underlying asset value decline is mild or temporary.  The risk can be mitigated by negotiating the terms of leverage, and by leveraging only liquid assets.




Forced position reductions

A common misconception is that levered entities are forced to reduce positions as they lose money. This is only true if the entity is run at maximum leverage.

The point is that it is using maximum leverage that can force position reductions, not simply using leverage. It often surprises people to learn that hedge funds running at 10 to 1 or higher notional leverage ratios hold 80 percent or 90 percent cash.


Model risk

Another risk of leverage is model risk. Economic leverage depends on model assumptions.  If that assumption is incorrect, the fund may have much more economic leverage than it thinks. For example, if refinery capacity is shut down by a hurricane, the price of oil may fall (less demand from refineries) while the price of gasoline might rise (less supply from refineries). A 5% fall in the price of oil and a 5% rise in the price of gasoline could wipe out the fund.

Counterparty risk

Leverage may involve a counterparty, either a creditor or a derivative counterparty. It doesn't always do that, for example a company levering by acquiring a fixed asset has no further reliance on a counterparty.

In the case of a creditor, most of the risk is usually on the creditor's side, but there can be risks to the borrower, such as demand repayment clauses or rights to seize collateral.  If a derivative counterparty fails, unrealized gains on the contract may be jeopardized. These risks can be mitigated by negotiating terms, including mark-to-market collateral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(finance)

Leverage

Using OPM (other people's money) to make money is smart business as long as the company doesn't go over its head in debt.

From the perspective of a shareholder, the more revenue-producing assets a company can put into play without requiring more money from the shareholders, the better.

The downside, of course, is the vulnerability issue and what creditors might do if the income dries up enough to make servicing the debt difficult or impossible.

Common ratios to evaluate leverage are:

1.  Debt to Assets (Total Debt / Total Assets)
2.  Assets to Equity (Total Assets / Shareholder Equity)
3.  Debt to Equity (Total Debt / Shareholder Equity)
4.  Debt to Capital (Long-term Debt / Total Capitalization)


Don't base an investment solely on any of the ratios above.  Their most useful purpose could be to call your attention to possible upcoming changes in your quality criteria and might lead you to be more vigilant about them as you manage your portfolio.



Debt Service

For those companies with high leverage, you should also look at their ability to service their debts.  For this, look at these ratios:

1.  Interest Coverage (EBIT / Interest)
2.  Interest and Principal Coverage  [EBIT / (Interest + Adjusted Principal Repayments)]

Definition of 'Leverage Ratio'

Any ratio used to calculate the financial leverage of a company to get an idea of the company's methods of financing or to measure its ability to meet financial obligations. There are several different ratios, but the main factors looked at include debt, equity, assets and interest expenses.

Investopedia explains 'Leverage Ratio'

The most well known financial leverage ratio is the debt-to-equity ratio. For example, if a company has $10M in debt and $20M in equity, it has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.5 ($10M/$20M).

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/leverageratio.asp#ixzz2ALwlASAr

Financing a capital project with equity may be a signal to investors that a company's prospects are not good.

Corporate Finance - Signaling Prospects Through Financing Decisions

One of the key assumptions Modigliani and Miller make in their work is that market information is symmetric, meaning companies and investors have the same information with respect to the company's future projects/investments. This assumption, however, is not realistic. When making capital decisions, a company's management should have more information than an investor, which implies asymmetric information. 

A financing decision is a way in which a company can inadvertently signal its prospects to investors. For example, suppose Newco decides to finance a new project with equity. Newco's additional equity would in fact dilute stockholder value. Since companies typically try to maximize stockholder value, would an equity offering be a bad signal? The answer is yes.

There would be some benefit from the project to the stockholders; however, the dilution from the offering would offset some of that benefit. If a company's prospects are good, management will finance new projects with other means, such as debt, to avoid giving any negative signals to the market. 

Look Out!Financing a capital project with equity may be a signal to investors that a company's prospects are not good.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfa-level-1/corporate-finance/signaling-prospects-financing-decisions.asp#ixzz1yhFwj3bz

Differing amounts of debt financing cause changes in EPS and thus a company's stock price.

Effect of Changes in Sales or Earnings on EBIT 

Differing amounts of debt financing cause changes in EPS and thus a company's stock price. The calculations for EBIT and EPS are as follows:

Formula 11.16

EBIT = sales - variable costs - fixed costs EPS = [(EBIT - interest)*(1-tax rate)] / shares outstanding

This LOS is best explained by the use of an example. 

Example:The following is Newco's cost of debt at various capital structures. Newco has $1 million in total assets and a tax rate of 40%. Assume that, at a debt level of zero, Newco has 20,000 shares outstanding.

Figure 11.10: Newco's cost of debt at various capital structures

In addition, Newco has annual sales of $5 million, variable costs are 40% of sales and fixed costs are equal to $2.4 million. At each level of debt, determine Newco's EPS.

Answer:At debt level 0%:
Shares outstanding are 20,000 and interest costs are 0.
EPS = [($5,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 2,400,000-0)*(1-0.4)]/20,000
EPS = $18 per share

At debt level 20%:
Shares outstanding are 16,000 [20,000*(1-20%)] and interest costs are 8,000 (200,000*0.04).
EPS = [($5,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 2,400,000-8,000)*(1-0.4)]/16,000
EPS = $22.20 per share

At debt level 40%:
Shares outstanding are 12,000 [20,000*(1-40%)] and interest costs are 24,000 (400,000*0.06).
EPS = [($5,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 2,400,000-24,000)*(1-0.4)]/12,000
EPS = $28.80 per share

At debt level 60%:
Shares outstanding are 8,000 [20,000*(1-60%)] and interest costs are 48,000 (600,000*0.08).
EPS = [($5,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 2,400,000-48,000)* (1-0.4)]/8,000
EPS= $41.40 per share

At debt level 80%:
Shares outstanding are 4,000 [20,000*(1-80%)] and interest costs are 80,000 (800,000*0.10).
EPS = [($5,000,000 - 2,000,000 - 2,400,000-80,000)* (1-0.4)]/4,000
EPS = $78.00 per share

With each increase in debt level (accompanied with the decrease in shares outstanding), Newco's earnings per share increases.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfa-level-1/corporate-finance/business-financial-risk.asp#ixzz1yey1qp1O

Corporate Finance - Factors that Influence a Company's Capital-Structure Decision

The primary factors that influence a company's capital-structure decision are:

1.Business risk
2.Company's tax exposure
3.Financial flexibility
4. Management style
5.Growth rate
6.Market Conditions

1.Business RiskExcluding debt, business risk is the basic risk of the company's operations. The greater the business risk, the lower the optimal debt ratio.

As an example, let's compare a utility company with a retail apparel company. A utility company generally has more stability in earnings. The company has less risk in its business given its stable revenue stream. However, a retail apparel company has the potential for a bit more variability in its earnings. Since the sales of a retail apparel company are driven primarily by trends in the fashion industry, the business risk of a retail apparel company is much higher. Thus, a retail apparel company would have a lower optimal debt ratio so that investors feel comfortable with the company's ability to meet its responsibilities with the capital structure in both good times and bad.

2.Company's Tax ExposureDebt payments are tax deductible. As such, if a company's tax rate is high, using debt as a means of financing a project is attractive because the tax deductibility of the debt payments protects some income from taxes.

3.Financial FlexibilityThis is essentially the firm's ability to raise capital in bad times. It should come as no surprise that companies typically have no problem raising capital when sales are growing and earnings are strong. However, given a company's strong cash flow in the good times, raising capital is not as hard. Companies should make an effort to be prudent when raising capital in the good times, not stretching its capabilities too far. The lower a company's debt level, the more financial flexibility a company has.

The airline industry is a good example. In good times, the industry generates significant amounts of sales and thus cash flow. However, in bad times, that situation is reversed and the industry is in a position where it needs to borrow funds. If an airline becomes too debt ridden, it may have a decreased ability to raise debt capital during these bad times because investors may doubt the airline's ability to service its existing debt when it has new debt loaded on top.

4.Management Style Management styles range from aggressive to conservative. The more conservative a management's approach is, the less inclined it is to use debt to increase profits. An aggressive management may try to grow the firm quickly, using significant amounts of debt to ramp up the growth of the company's earnings per share (EPS).

5.Growth RateFirms that are in the growth stage of their cycle typically finance that growth through debt, borrowing money to grow faster. The conflict that arises with this method is that the revenues of growth firms are typically unstable and unproven. As such, a high debt load is usually not appropriate.

More stable and mature firms typically need less debt to finance growth as its revenues are stable and proven. These firms also generate cash flow, which can be used to finance projects when they arise.

6.Market ConditionsMarket conditions can have a significant impact on a company's capital-structure condition. Suppose a firm needs to borrow funds for a new plant. If the market is struggling, meaning investors are limiting companies' access to capital because of market concerns, the interest rate to borrow may be higher than a company would want to pay. In that situation, it may be prudent for a company to wait until market conditions return to a more normal state before the company tries to access funds for the plant.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfa-level-1/corporate-finance/capital-structure-decision-factors.asp#ixzz1yevRPv00

Investor concerns about the use of leverage in the Bakrie Group

Deadline looms for Bakries covenant breach

Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:11pm EDT

By Prakash Chakravarti and Janeman Latul

(Reuters) - Indonesian group Bakrie has until Friday to resolve a covenant breach on a $437 million loan following a drop in the price of its London-listed coal miner Bumi Plc last week, sources familiar with the loan said on Monday.

The breach was the latest in a series of debt problems for Bakrie Group, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates and which avoided a debt crisis last year by selling a stake in Bumi Plc to an Indonesian investor for $1 billion.

Credit Suisse sent a notice on behalf of lenders to the borrower following the covenant breach, after Bumi Plc shares - pledged as collateral against the borrowing - slid 3.8 percent over the course of last week, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because the matter was not public.

Bumi Plc declined to comment. A director at the Bakrie Group's Jakarta-listed coal miner Bumi Resources said he was not aware of any default notice.

Bumi Resources shares dropped 7.4 percent on Monday, while Bumi Plc shares were down a further 7.6 percent on the day by 1150 GMT.

The sources said the notice required Bakrie Group to bring back the collateral coverage on the loan to a level that would require depositing cash of around $100 million with lenders.

Failure to do so by the deadline of April 27 would constitute a default that could lead to lenders demanding prepayment of the full $437 million loan.

The Financial Times first reported on Saturday that creditors issued a default notice on the $437 million loan.

One of the sources told Reuters that Bakrie family arm Long Haul, which took a $247 million portion of the loan, could either top up the loan or pay it and then refinance it.

Either way, a majority of creditors were backing the Bakrie Group so a default requiring full prepayment was seen as unlikely, meaning this was unlikely to become a new crisis, the source said.

A director at Bakrie Group holding firm Bakrie & Bros , which took the other $190 million of the loan that does not require a top-up, said: "We are not in any default situation with our loan at the moment."

Shares in Bakrie & Bros were unchanged on Monday.

Even so, the new debt issue is likely to add to investor concerns about the use of leverage in the Bakrie Group and its subsidiary companies and corporate governance, both issues that have weighed on its stocks in the past year.

Bumi Plc's stock has fallen 43 percent so far this year.

Bumi Plc sought to draw a line under discord between its main stakeholders last month, announcing a board shake-up that saw new major shareholder Samin Tan installed as chairman and that left a role for co-founder Nat Rothschild.

Speculative-Growth Stocks - What Has Growth Done to the Balance Sheet?

Like most speculative-growth companies, Yahoo in 1999 doesn't generate enough cash internally to pay for an aggressive expansion.

It must look outside for capital - either by borrowing or by issuing stock in the equity markets.

Given the market's ravenous appetite for Internet stocks over the late 90s, Yahoo has understandably financed most of its expansion with equity.

It had its initial public offering in 1996, and since then it has issued stock to pay for its many acquisitions.

It has little long-term debt, which means it doesn't have to worry about interest payments.

Overall, its balance sheet looks very healthy.

In contrast, Amazon.com AMZN, another highly successful Internet company, has borrowed over $2 billion and is highly leveraged in 1999.

Risk of Loss Caused by a Company's Indebtedness

Companies that choose to finance a large proportion of their assets with borrowed money face an increased risk of being unable to meet their financial obligations.  The greater a company's reliance on debt, the more likely that the company will be unable to service the required interest and principal payments that come from debt.  A large amount of debt also tends to produce large variations in a firm's net income, which places the stockholder in a riskier position because it is more difficult to forecast earnings and dividends.

A company that relies mostly on earnings and owner contributions to pay for new assets has few fixed financial expenses to meet and is likely to be able to continue to meet its financial obligations when it encounters difficult economic conditions.

• A business with a substantial amount of debt is likely to encounter difficulties when revenues decrease.  
• Difficulties may also arise when revenues increase more slowly than the firm's management expected at the time the funds were borrowed.

If being in debt is so risky, why do most companies so readily employ this method of financing?  

• The answer is that debt allows a company to acquire more assets and grow more rapidly than would reliance solely on earnings and stockholders' contributions.  
• A company that conscientiously avoids borrowing money may have to delay its expansion plans because of the limited funds available to pay for new assets.  
• Delayed expansion may allow the firm's competitors to gain an advantage by reaching new markets or developing new products first.  
• A delay in expansion plans may also keep a firm from being among the first in its industry to reach a cost-efficient size.

Borrowing money rather than issuing additional shares of stock permits a business to expand without having to share control and profits with additional owners.  The firm also saves on future dividend payments.

• A firm that borrows $500,000 avoids having to sell thousands of additional shares of common stock on which dividends are likely to be paid in the future even if no dividends are currently being paid.  
• In addition, while dividend payments to stockholders must be paid from after-tax income, interest paid on debt is permitted as a deduction in calculating taxable income.  
• In other words, the interest expense from borrowing results in a tax benefit for the borrower.

Another potential advantage of borrowing is that debt financing will allow a company that experiences favourable business conditions to earn a higher return on the stockholders' investment.

• A decision to seek a long-term loan at a fixed rate of interest can prove to be a very wise decision if a company's productivity and revenues grow.  The fixed interest expense means that a substantial proportion of revenue growth is likely to flow down as profits for the stockholders.

Sources of Finance for financing growth

WHAT CHOICES DO YOU HAVE TO RAISE FUNDS?

1.  DEBT FINANCING involves a loan that will accumulate future interest.
2.  EQUITY FINANCING involves accepting a lump sum in exchange for selling the future benefits and profits of your business to investors.

WHAT MIX OF DEBT/EQUITY IS USED IN A BUSINESS LIFE CYCLE?

1.  SEED STAGE
WHAT IS IT?  When your business is just a thought or an idea
FINANCIAL SOURCES:

• Family and friends
• Private savings
• Credit cards:  usually much quicker than waiting for a loan approval.

2.  START-UP STAGE
WHAT IS IT?  When the company has officially launched.
FINANCIAL SOURCES:

• Banking, typically the first option of small business owners.
• Small, community banks.
• Leasing:  paying a monthly payment for renting assets like equipment or office space.
• Factoring:  paying an advance rate to a third party (factor) in exchange for cash.
• Trade credit:  when a supplier allows the buyer to delay payment.

3.  GROWTH-STAGE
WHAT IS IT?  When a business has successfully traded for a period.
FINANCIAL SOURCES:

• Angel investor: a wealthy individual who hands over capital in return for ownership equity.
• Venture capital funds: large institutions seeking to invest considerable amounts of capital into growing businesses through a series of investment vehicles.
• Initial public offering (IPO):  the sale of equity in a company, generally in the form of shares of common stock, through an investment banking firm.

4.  MATURE STAGE
WHAT IS IT?  When its business has an established place in the market.
FINANCIAL SOURCES:

• Capital market securities such as common stock, dividends, voting rights.
• Bonds - loans that take the form of a debt security where the borrower (known as the issuer) owes the holder (the lender) a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and interest (the coupon).
• Commercial paper -  a money market security issued by large banks and corporations for short-term investments (maximum nine months) such as purchases of inventory

Key terms

Angel investor:  a wealthy individual, often a retired business owner or executive, who hands over capital to a new business in return for ownership equity.

Venture capitalists:  commonly large institutions seeking to invest considerable amounts of capital into growing businesses through a series of invesmtent vehicles that include state and private pension funds, university endowments, and insurance companies.

Commercial paper:  a money market secuirty issued by large banks and corporations for short term investments (maximum nine months) such as purchases of inventory.  These unsecured IOUs are consideed safe, but returns are small.

Factoring:  describes a loan by a third party (factor) given in the form of cash (often within 24 hours) for accounts receivable.  The borrower pays a percentage of the invoice.

What do people mean when they say debt is a relatively cheaper form of finance than equity?

What do people mean when they say debt is a relatively cheaper form of finance than equity?

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this case, the "cost" being referred to is the measurable cost of obtaining capital.

• With debt, this is the interest expense a company pays on its debt.
• With equity, the cost of capital refers to the claim on earnings which must be afforded to shareholders for their ownership stake in the business.

 

For example, if you run a small business and need $40,000 of financing, you can either take out a $40,000 bank loan at a 10% interest rate or you can sell a 25% stake in your business to your neighbor for $40,000.

 

• Suppose your business earns $20,000 profits during the next year. If you took the bank loan, your interest expense (cost of debt financing) would be $4,000, leaving you with $16,000 in profit.
• Conversely, had you used equity financing, you would have zero debt (and thus no interest expense), but would keep only 75% of your profit (the other 25% being owned by your neighbor). Thus, your personal profit would only be $15,000 (75% x $20,000).
• From this example, you can see how it is less expensive for you, as the original shareholder of your company, to issue debt as opposed to equity.
• Taxes make the situation even better if you had debt, since interest expense is deducted from earnings before income taxes are levied, thus acting as a tax shield (although we have ignored taxes in this example for the sake of simplicity).

 

Of course, the advantage of the fixed-interest nature of debt can also be a disadvantage, as it presents a fixed expense, thus increasing a company's risk.

• Going back to our example, suppose your company only earned $5,000 during the next year.
• With debt financing, you would still have the same $4,000 of interest to pay, so you would be left with only $1,000 of profit ($5,000 - $4,000).
• With equity, you again have no interest expense, but only keep 75% of your profits, thus leaving you with $3,750 of profits (75% x $5,000).
• So, as you can see, provided a company is expected to perform well, debt financing can usually be obtained at a lower effective cost.
• However, if a company fails to generate enough cash, the fixed-cost nature of debt can prove too burdensome. This basic idea represents the risk associated with debt financing.

 

Companies are never 100% certain what their earnings will amount to in the future (although they can make reasonable estimates), and the more uncertain their future earnings, the more risk presented.

• Thus, companies in very stable industries with consistent cash flows generally make heavier use of debt than companies in risky industries or companies who are very small and just beginning operations.
• New businesses with high uncertainty may have a difficult time obtaining debt financing, and thus finance their operations largely through equity.

 

(For more on the costs of capital, see Investors Need A Good WACC.)

 

http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/05/debtcheaperthanequity.asp