Subject Code : AF3313
Assignment Task :

 

Points to note: 

1) In light of the current situation, the School’s decision is that the final exam for this course will be replaced by this assignment.

2) Students should answer all 3 questions. Apart from knowledge acquired from this course,  students may be expected to carry out further research to support their answers.

3) Students must type and submit their work via Turnitin. The similarity index should not exceed 30%. The length of essays should be within 2,000 words. There is no word limit on numerical problems. Answers to all questions must be typed.

4) Citation of references is not required.

 

Question 1 (AF3313)

Choose TWO of the following independent essay topics. If you choose to do all three, only the first two essays written will be graded. 

A) Provide a real-life example of a long-term external source of finance used by a listed company in Hong Kong. Describe the nature of this financial arrangement (e.g. purpose, duration, risk assessment, etc.). In your opinion,  explain whether this financial arrangement was the right move and suggest alternatives to this arrangement with reference to what you learned in this course and provide justifications. 

B) Analyze why, despite employing various investment appraisal techniques, large investment projects in big corporations may fail to deliver their estimated cash flows. Critically assess how a failed capital project may affect key stakeholders and shareholder value and also shape the future strategy of investment capital.  

C) Critically analyze the merits and demerits of the Capital Asset Pricing Model  (CAPM) and discuss its value in practice.

 

Question 2 

Johnny Wellington, an entrepreneur who wants to engage in a short term business project, comes to you for advice. As an expert in capital budgeting, Johnny wants you to study the feasibility of the project. In particular, he needs your help to forecast the upcoming cash flows the project is going to require and generate throughout its life. After a few meetings with Johnny and his business partners, you suggest that a pilot run be conducted. Upon completion of the pilot run at the end of year 1, Johnny and his associates can choose either to continue with the project or terminate it. You forecast that this project will generate cash flows for 4 years after the pilot run if Johnny decides to further proceed. The pilot run costs $1.0 million to start and if they decide to continue with the project after this pilot run, an additional investment cost amounting to USD1.6 million will be incurred at the end of year 1. The investment cost of USD1.6 million will be fully depreciated on a straight-line basis over the life of the project with no scrap value at the end. If the outcome from the pilot run is positive, Johnny can launch the project in full scale at the end of year 1. Revenues, variable costs and fixed costs for years 2 through 5 are estimated to be as follows: 

fixed cost

However, if the outcome from the pilot run is not encouraging and the team decides to launch the project in full scale, the following estimates are obtained

variable cost

You project that the pilot run has a 60% chance of being successful (i.e. outcome is positive). 

To finance the pilot run and the full-scale project, Johnny and his associates decide to use 50% debt and 50% equity. An investor who is Johnny’s high school buddy, Barry Lawson, agrees to enter into a special arrangement in which 5-year promissory notes with a face value of USD1000 per note will be sold to Barry at a price of USD694.11 per note. These notes do not make intermediate interest payments. (Note: Consider annual compounding for the promissory notes.) 

You gather some market data to work out the equity beta for the project and it is determined to be 1.50. Further, the market return and T-bill rate are 11 % and 4%, respectively. Assume the T-bill rate is an appropriate proxy for the risk-free rate of return. Profits and losses from the project will be taxed at a rate of 34%. 

Assume the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is valid. 

 

Required 

a) Determine the after-tax cost of debt.

b) Determine the cost of equity. 

c) Calculate the weighted average cost of capital for the project.

d) What is the present value of the cash flows in year 1 if the outcome from the pilot run is positive and the team decides to launch the project in full scale? Ignore your answer in part c) and use 10% as the appropriate discount rate. 

e) What is the present value of the cash flows in year 1 if the outcome from the pilot run is negative and the team decides to launch the project on a full scale? Ignore your answer in part c) and use 10% as the appropriate discount rate.

f) Should the project be implemented today (i.e. year 0)? Provide relevantly and supporting calculations. Again, ignore your answer in part c) and use 10% as the appropriate discount rate.

 

Question 3 

Transbot Inc., an all-equity financed company, is a manufacturer whose core operation is the production of robotic machines and transports. The CFO of the company is contemplating investing in two independent projects. The first project, RoboTrain is the production of robotic trains used in upscale shopping and leisure complex for carrying patrons within the facility. The second project, RoboMaid is the production of robotic maids used to gradually replace human domestic helpers. The CFO of Transbot hires you to perform relevant financial analyses and determine the feasibility of these projects. Based on estimates provided by your assistant, the expected return and standard deviation for RoboTrain are computed to be 16% and 12%, respectively and for RoboMaid 18% and 15%, respectively for the upcoming year. The correlation between the two projects is estimated to be 0.35. The stock returns for Transbot and the market (S&P 500 index) for the past 5 years are presented to you by your assistant as follows: 

year tranbot's

Assume the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is valid and the firm beta is expected to remain unchanged in the foreseeable future. 

Required 

a) Calculate the mean return and standard deviation for Transbot’s stock returns. 

b) Determine the stock beta for Transbot.

c) What are the expected return and standard deviation of an equally-weighted portfolio consisting of RoboTrain and RoboMaid? Do you see any benefit from diversification? Explain in one or two sentences.

d) Your beta estimate for RoboTrain and RoboMaid is 1.52 and 1.65, respectively. What are the required returns for RoboTrain and RoboMaid for the upcoming year according to CAPM? Assume the market risk premium to be 7% and the risk-free rate to be 4%.

e) Would you advise your CFO to proceed with these investments? Is it appropriate to use the firm’s hurdle rate as a benchmark comparison when making your decision? Explain your answer. 

 

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  • Posted on : September 24th, 2018

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