Archive for the ‘BUSINESS FINANCE’ Category

Snapshot Of Articles Covered Under Capital Investment/Long Term Decision

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Besides the managing of working capital, managers need to embark on major long term decision wherein it involves major investment in capital requirements to reap certain rate of required return.

Append below is a list of all articles pertaining to this capital investment decisions:

Stage 1: Pre-Investment:-

Pre-investment appraisal-which is the best method?

Pre-investment appraisal-understand the time-value money concept

Pre-investment appraisal-understand the future value money concept

Pre-investment appraisal-understand the present value money concept

Stage 2: Different Methods/Types Of Investment Appraisal

Capital Investment Appraisal Method-Accounting Rate Of Return

Capital Investment Appraisal Method-Internal Rate Of Return 

Capital Investment Appraisal Method-Payback Method 

Capital Investment Appraisal Method-Net Present Value (NPV) 

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Internal Rate Of Return

The Profitability Index- Its Advantages & Disadvantages

Net Present Value (NPV) Methods Compared to Other Capital Appraisal Methods 

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Different Valuation Method For A Company

Friday, October 26th, 2007

There are three approaches in valuing a company :income, market and asset.

 

Income Approach
  • The income approach is the most appropriate method for valuing an on-going company.
  • An investment in any asset is worth no more than the present value of its expected future cashflow, which can be in the form of earnings, dividends or free cashflow to equity.
  • The most common method used by analysts is single period capitalisation method (SPCM) (some finance text books call it the Gordon growth model for discounting back future dividends).
  • SPCM converts the single period of income into value by dividing it with a capitalisation rate.
  • This method relies on two assumptions: A stable annual financial return, which can be a proxy for every year in perpetuity; and a constant growth rate, which is a proxy for the annual compound growth rate in perpetuity.

Value of a company        

Cashflow  (1+g)                                                                                R – g

 where Cashflow can be in the form of dividend per share (DPS) or free cashflow per share g refers to the future growth rate of cash flow R refers to the required rate of return for an investor Capitalisation rate = R - g

Illustration:

  • Company A provided a DPS of 50 sen last year. Let us assume that we expect the company’s DPS to grow at 8% (g = 8%). The value of a company is equal to RM10.80 if an investor’s required rate of return (R) is equal to 13%. 

         Value of company A =           RM0.50 x (1 + 0.08) = RM10.80                                               0.13 -0.08                                            

  • The computed value of RM10.80 is the intrinsic value for Company A. We will rate it a “buy” if the current price is lower than RM10.80.
Market Approach
This method uses historical market data. The general theory is that if one can find sufficiently similar companies that have been sold in arms-length transactions, those transactions may form a foundation for an indication of value for the interest being valued. The common method uses the price-earnings ratio (PER). Analysts normally compare this ratio with the industry or its historical figures.

PER = Market price/Earnings per share (EPS)

  • If Company A’s PER is 10 times against the industry’s 15 times, we can conclude that company A is undervalued.
Asset Approach
Asset approach is also known as adjusted book value or net asset value. The book value of the assets and liabilities are adjusted to reflect its fair market value. The asset values are totalled, and the total of the liabilities is subtracted to derive the total value of the company.  The most common method is the revised net asset value (RNAV) where analyst adjusts all its assets and liabilities to market value.

For example, Company A is a holding company. It has a subsidiary, Company B, which is also listed on the exchange. The RNAV will use the market value instead of the book value of Company B to determine the overall revised market value of Company A’s assets. This figure will provide a more reflective value for Company A compared with its historical book value. Among the three approaches, the value indicated by the income approach is more appropriate and will have the greatest influence in valuing an operating company.

Medium To Long Term Finance(Part3)

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

This 3rd part article seeks to look at Long term sources of fund which include the following:

Share capital (covered in Part 2 of 3)

Fixed Income Securities

Notes and

Bonds

FIXED INCOME SECURITIES:

The holders of the fixed income securities are creditors of the company rather than shareholders:

Have no rights in the company beyond the payment of a fixed interest on their loans and repayment of the loans in accordance with the terms on which they were issued.

Fixed income securities may be secured or unsecured, with the secured fixed income securities ranking before the unsecured.

 

The two (2) principal types of fixed income securities are debentures and loan stocks.

DEBENTURES/DEBENTURE STOCKS

A debenture is similar to a mortgage;

It is a long-term loan secured on certain fixed or floating assets of a company;

A debenture stock is a debenture issued as a fixed-interest stock;

Such securities are issued under trust deeds, and in the event of the borrower defaulting on the interest or capital repayment, the debenture holder has the right to appoint a receiver to sell the company’s assets and secure repayment of the loan;

LOAN STOCKS

A loan stock is a security issued by a company in respect of a loan made by investors;

Loan stocks may be secured, unsecured, convertible or non-convertible, but are often unsecured, unlike debentures;

Unsecured loan stocks

carry higher risk than debentures, and in the event of a winding-up, unsecured loan stock holders rank alongside all other unsecured creditors.

 

Convertible loan stocks

carry the right to convert into ordinary shares of the company on pre-arranged terms and within a limited period. The objective of issuing a convertible loan stock is to obtain fixed interest finance at a relatively low rate of interest and at the same time make it attractive to potential holders by the offer of equity participation at a later date.

 

NOTES

These are also fixed income securities with a maturity date, and may or may not be redeemable.

 

BONDS

Like debentures, bonds are fixed income securities issued to lenders of long-term loans, and with a maturity date.

 

Medium To Long Term Finance(Part2)

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

This 2 nd part article seeks to look at Long term sources of fund which include the following:

  • Share capital and
  • Fixed Income Securities

SHARE CAPITAL:

A share is a security which represents a portion of the owner’s capital in a business. Shareholders are the owners of the business. They share in the success or failure of the business. This can be measured by the amount of dividends that they receive and by the price of the share, quoted on the stock market. (In the U.S., shares are referred to as common stock.)

 

There are several types of share capital:

 

(1) ORDINARY Share Capital

· Also known as equity shares, this is the risk capital of a company;

· Ordinary shares give holders the rights of ownership in the company, such as the right to share in the profits, the right to vote in general meeting and to elect and dismiss directors;

· Obligations of ownership are also conferred and this may result in the loss of an investor’s money if the company is unsuccessful;

· Ordinary shares usually form the bulk of a company’s capital and have no special rights over other shares and

· In the event of liquidation, ordinary shares rank after all other liabilities of the company.

 

(2) PREFERENCE Shares

·  Shares which carry the right to dividend (normally fixed) which ranks for payment before that of ordinary shareholders;

·  Preference shares may be preferred also as regards distribution of assets upon dissolution of the company;

·  Generally carry no voting rights, but voting rights may be made contingent upon failure to pay dividends on preference shares for a certain period of time

·  There are several types of preference shares which are as follows.

(a) Participating preference shares

are entitled to participate in the profits beyond the fixed dividends, by way of an additional fluctuating dividend if the company is successful.

(b) Cumulative preference shares

are preference shares which, apart from having a preferential right to receive a fixed dividend ahead of ordinary shares, also carry the right of any arrears of the preference dividends which may have built up.

 © Non-cumulative preference shares

are preference shares which are not entitled to any arrears in dividends.

(d) Redeemable preference shares

may be redeemed by the company at a stated redemption price on advance notice of a period of time. It is usual to set a redemption price above the par value to compensate the owner for the involuntary loss of his investment.

(e) Convertible preference shares

are preference shares which carry the right to be made convertible, at the option of the holder, into another class of shares, normally into ordinary shares.

Short Term Finance(Part1)

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

In this financing section, we learn about the various sources of finance. The various sources of finance can be categorized as:-

  • SHORT TERM FINANCE is generally borrowings that repayable within ONE year;(PART1)
  • Medium- term finance are those repayable within 2 to 5 years (Part2) and
  • Long-term finance repayable after more than 5 years(Part3)

You may asked what’s so important to differentiate finance into its various period namely short to medium to long term finance.

The main rationale is that if a company has long term investments where returns are not yet forthcoming, the project/investment should strictly be bridged by long term sources of finance. Just imagine that as the manager who is in charge of getting the finance, you manage to finance it with short term financing facilities like bank overdraft ,etc- the financial interest will shoot sky-high for many years with no returns/cash in-flow.

Append below is a table of the various type of short term finance:

Sources Of Short-term finance

Description

Bank Overdrafts

 

  • Simplest and most flexible type of short term finance for most business;
  • Given a maximum limit;
  • Interest is charged only on those utilized;
  • Unutilized amount might be charged a small % of commitment fee;
  • This facility is given on top of what the owner has in his/her current account;
  • Generally about 2%-5% above the lender bank’s base lending rate. Premium spread like 0.25% to 0.75% are given by the lender bank to their high valued customers;
  • Flexible because the borrower can reduce his overdraft as and when he wants by merely banking into his current account which has the overdrawn amount;
  • The main disadvantages are this type of facility is repayable on demand and normally the borrower need to provide security/collateral for the overdraft facility.

 

 

Short-term loans

 

  • Fixed amount and have a fixed period of time to repay the loan;
  • Interest rate is fixed;
  • Duration from few months to few years;
  • Repayments either in installments or bullet type meaning one lump sum repayment;
  • Interest is charge on the amount borrowed;
  • Like bank overdraft, need to provide security or collateral for the lender bank;
  • Advantage - the company does not need to pay back immediately especially when they embark on medium to long term projects/investments. So it is more secure than bank overdraft;
  • Disadvantage - the interest rate is fixed. Un-conducive particularly when interest rates trends are moving downward;

 

Revolving Credit

  • Borrowing for a short period of time say ninety days but renewable when expiry date is due;
  • Has the feature of both short-term and medium-term loans as the borrower can keep repaying and borrowing for a few years

Bridging loans

  • Normally applies to property based or project financing
  • Loans are given for a specified period of time and coincides with the date the funds to repay. For example, in a housing project, a bridging loan of $XXmillion is repayable when the house owners commence to pay the housing developer.

Debt Factoring

  • The lender bank or finance company takes over the company’s trade debts in return for a commission;
  • Services offered include debt collection and administration, credit insurance and finance provision;
  • Debt collection and administration includes taking over all the trade debts and manages the collection of debts for a fee/commission;
  • Credit insurance is the paying in advance certain portion of the face value of the debts say 85%. Two types: recourse and non-recourse factoring arrangement. Recourse means that in the event of bad debts, the company will absorb it whilst non-recourse is that the factoring company will absorb the bad debts but will charge a higher commission for doing so;
  • Finance provision is similar to recourse factoring.

Invoice discounting

 

  • Similar to factoring. The lender will advance a percentage of the trade debt;
  • The collection and management of the trade debt is done by the company and not the lending institution;
  • The borrower to repay amount advanced plus interest charged.

Trade credits

 

  • Credit extended by the supplier of goods and/ services;
  • Normally for a period of 30 to 90 days;
  • Credit term given by suppliers will depend on the company’s financial position and whether discount is taken or not;
  • Interest free unless if supplier offers discount and borrower did not pay to enjoy the discount benefit;
  • Therefore, the “cheapest” source of finance but should be handled properly otherwise company’s reputation might be ruined if it overstretch the credit term given by the suppliers.

Capital Investment Appraisal Method:Payback Method

Monday, October 15th, 2007

 

Further to my earlier article on Accounting Rate of Return, let’s look at another simple investment appraisal method called Payback Period.This method seeks to determine how long it takes for the investment project to pay back its initial capital cost. (more…)

Net Present Value Compared To Other Capital Investment Appraisal Methods

Monday, October 15th, 2007

We have reviewed the four methods of investment appraisal techniques:

  • Payback
  • Accounting rate of return
  • Net Present Value
  • Internal Rate of Return (more…)

The Profitability Index -Pros & Cons

Monday, October 15th, 2007

The profitability index is an alternative way of stating the net present value (NPV). It takes the present value of the cash-flows and divides them by the initial capital outlay.
i.e.: Profitability Index (PI) =Present value of cash flows / Initial cash outflow

Interpretation:
If the PI is more than one, then we should invest in the project as it represents a positive net present value. (more…)

Capital Investment Appraisal Method:Net Present Value(NPV) Method

Monday, October 15th, 2007

In basic term, net present value (NPV) of an investment is the difference between:
The present value of future cash flows and the present value of the initial capital expenditure required to implement the project. (more…)

Pros & Cons Of Internal Rate Of Return (IRR)

Monday, October 15th, 2007

In the earlier articles, we have looked at how we compute NPV and IRR and also understand how to interpret the individual result.
One very good point is that both NPV and IRR are able to eliminate the greatest disadvantage of ignoring the time value of money or present value unlike the other two methods -Payback and ARR.

We now focus on the advantages of using IRR: (more…)