Du Pont de Nemours and Company Case Analysis In assessing Du Pont’s capital structure after the Conoco merger that significantly increased the company’s debt to equity ratio, an analyst must look at all benefits and drawbacks of a high debt ratio. The main reason why Du Pont ended up with a high debt to equity ratio after acquiring Conoco was due to the timing and price at which they bought Conoco. Du Pont ended up buying the firm at its peak, just before coal and oil prices started to fall and at a time when economic recession hurt the chemical industry of Du Pont. The additional response from analysts and Du Pont stockholders also forced Du Pont to think twice about their new expansion. The thought of bringing the debt ratio back to 25% was brought on by the fact that the company saw that high levels of capital spending were vital to the success of the firm and that high debt levels may put them at higher risk for defaulting. The consistent high spending of capital equipment is the first reason why one would recommend reducing the debt to equity ratio. A company with higher levels of debt is less flexible in being able to adjust to new market demands and conditions that require the company to make new products or respond to competition. Looking at the pecking order of financing, issuing new shares to fund capital investing is the last resort and a company that has high levels of debt, must move to the equity side to avoid the risk of bankruptcy. Defaulting on loans occur when increased costs or bad economic conditions lead the firm to have lower net income than the payments on loans. The risk of defaulting on loans and the direct and indirect cost related to defaulting lead firms to prefer lower levels of debt. The financial distress caused by additional leverage can lead to lower cash flows available to all investors, lower than if the firm was financed by equity only. Additionally, the high debt ratio that Du Pont incurred also led to them dropping from a AAA bond rating to a AA bond Rating. Although the likelihood of not being able to acquire loans would be minimal, there are increased interest costs with having a lower bond rating. The lower bond rating signals to investors that the firm is more likely to default than if it had a higher (AAA) bond rating.
UST Inc. is a dominant player in the smokeless tobacco industry. We have been tasked with weighing the cost and benefits of having leverage in their capital structure and to advise the CEO whether or not to go ahead with the recapitalization. After solving for UST’s credit ratings and value given three different stock buyback scenarios, $700 million, $1 billion, and $1.5 billion, we would suggest that UST move forward with the recap at $1 billion.
In SIVMED’s case, based on the definition of WACC, all capital bases should be included in its WACC. These include its common stock, preferred stock, bonds and long-term borrowings. In addition to being able to compute for the costs of capital, the WACC also determines how much interest SIVMED has to pay for all its activities. The value of the firm’s stock, which we want to maximize, depends of the after-tax cash flow. Hence, after-tax values for WACC are also needed. Furthermore, cost of capital is used to determine the cost of each debt, stock or common equity. Being able to analyze these will be essential into deciding what and how new capital should be acquired. Hence, the present marginal costs are ideally more essential than historical costs.
Equity ratio and debt ratio are both very important because it shows how much of the assets used for production is really owned by the owner of a company. According to calculations in the appendix, RBC has the highest equity ratio and the lowest debt ratio. This is considered favourable compared to Sun life and BMO’s equity and debt ratio. When it comes to return on total assets BMO has the highest return. Meaning it is earning more per assets than RBC and Sun
A group of investors (Arundel group) is looking into the idea of purchasing the sequel rights associated with films produced by one or more major movie studios. Movie rights are to be purchased prior to films being made. Arundel wants to come up with a decision to either purchase all the sequel rights for a studio's entire production during a specified period of time or purchase a specified number of major films. Arundel's profitability is dependent upon the price it pays for a portfolio of sequel rights. Our analysis of Arundel's proposal includes a net present value calculation of each movie production company. In order to decide whether Arundel can make money buying movie sequel rights depends on whether the net present value of the production company's movies is higher than the estimated 2M per film required to purchase the rights.
DuPont is a very big company with a low debt policy designed to maximize financial flexibility and insulate operations from financial constraints. It is one of the few AAA rated manufacturing companies due its investments are primarily financed from internal sources. However, because prices fell in the 1960’s thus DuPont’s net income fell also. The adverse economic conditions in 1970’s escalated inflation: increase in oil prices increased required inventory investments of the company. 1975 recession negatively affected DuPont’s net income by 33% and returns on capital and earnings per share fell. The company cut dividends in 1974 and working capital investment removed. Proportion of debt increased from 7% in 1972 to 27% in 1975 and interest coverage falls from 38 to 4.6. The company perceived increase in debt temporary but moved quickly to reduce its debt ratio by decreasing capital expenditures. Debt proportion dropped to 20%, interest coverage increased to 11.5 by 1979.
There is no universal theory of the debt-equity choice, and no reason to expect one. In this essay I will critically assess the Pecking Order Theory of capital structure with reference and comparison of publicly listed companies. The pecking order theory says that the firm will borrow, rather than issuing equity, when internal cash flow is not sufficient to fund capital expenditures. This theory explains why firms prefer internal rather than external financing which is due to adverse selection, asymmetry of information, and agency costs (Frank & Goyal, 2003). The trade-off theory comes from the pecking order theory it is an unintentional outcome of companies following the pecking-order theory. This explains that firms strive to achieve an optimal capital structure by using a mixture debt and equity known to act as an advantage leverage. Modigliani and Miller (1958) showed that the decisions firms make when choosing between debt and equity financing has no material effects on the value of the firm or on the cost or availability of capital. They assumed perfect and frictionless capital markets, in which financial innovation would quickly extinguish any deviation from their predicted equilibrium.
Cannon knew that his compact echo machine, which he carried under his arm by a single handle, would have to perform competitively in a room filled
Currently, HCA is approaching an all time high debt ratio of 70%, well above their established target ratio of 60%. The increase in debt ratio has attracted the attention of rating agencies who have clearly stated that in order for HCA to maintain their A bond rating HCA must return to their 60-40 capital structure. Now the question arises as to whether the A rating should be sought or should HCA move to a less conservative position. Some investors believe that a more aggressive use of leverage would present greater opportunities in the future. Others feel that with changes in Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement structure on the horizon, HCA should remain conservative. In order to decrease the debt ratio, HCA would have to 1) decrease the growth rate (inadvertently decreasing ROE) or 2) decrease debt/increase equity. The debt ratio is important for many reasons, but it should not be the basis of a company's future. The market will ultimately decide the value based on numerous facts, not just the bond rating.
Behind every product manufactured there are parts, fasteners, gloves, welds, holes that are drilled, and maybe a headache or two. These are all products that are sold and manufactured by the companies W.W. Grainger and Fastenal Company. Both of these companies are in the top ten in revenue for the industrial supply industry and I just so happen to work at one of them, that being Fastenal Co.
A decreasing debt to total assets ratio shows that the business is improving at obtaining assets while using liabilities. Furthermore, both ratios are low which is very healthy and indicates that the company as great portion of assets in comparison to liabilities. Fairmount Energy has shown their ability to obtain more assets and less liabilities as the debt to total assets ratio has decreased within the year.
Du Pont is organized into ten industrial departments. The department responsible for TiO2, the pigments department, is the second smallest of the ten departments. The revenue for this department in 1971 is $180 million which represent only 4.68% of Du Pont’s revenue. Although there is a considerable risk associated with the growth strategy, the committee is willing to grow this department because it is one of the smallest departments for du Pont, and the company performing so well financially as a whole. This leads us to the conclusion that the growth strategy should be pursued. Du Pont can afford to take a risk on this strategy given the small impact this department has on their associated financials, not to mention that the returns with the growth strategy are superior to the maintain strategy.
Burberry today is considered one of the leading luxury brands of the word. Here is a synopsis of rise of Burberry:
Having a low P/E ratio with respect to the rest of the market, and the replacement cost of the firm being greater than its book value (argument 3), there is a good chance that the current stock price and the proposed offering price are too low. Although long-term debt is a better financing choice, a few of the drawbacks are pointed out. Debt holders claim profit before equity. holders, so the chances that profits may be lower than expected. increases risk to equity, may reduce or impede stock value. However, the snares are still a bit snare.
In 1993 the Debt to Equity Ratio was .45. In 1994 it was .68 and in 1995 it was .73. This is a trend that Clarkson will have to take into consideration as he refinances his company.
Debt financing allows you purchase assets before you earn the necessary funds, which can be a great way to pursue an aggressive growth strategy (especially if you have access to low interest rates). Items like mining equipment, buildings, machines, equipment can all be obtained immediately once a loan is acquired. One of the advantages of debt financing is the ability to pay off your debt in installments over a period of time. Relative to equity financing, you also benefit by not relinquishing any ownership or control of the business. Finally, it is easy to forecast expenses because loan payments do not fluctuate.