Free Cash Flow Valuation

Free cash flow valuation is an approach to business valuation in which the business value equals the
present value of its free cash flow. It involves projecting free cash flows into future and then
discounting them at the appropriate cost of capital.
There are two approaches to valuation using free cash flow. The first involves discounting projected
free cash flow to firm (FCFF) at the weighted average cost of the capital (WACC) to find the total
business value. The second involves discounting future free cash flow to equity (FCFE) at the required
return of equity to find the value of the business equity.

Formula
The most basic free cash flow valuation models are similar to the dividend discount model. The
following formulas are using to calculate business value and business equity value respectively:

Total Business Value (under FCFF model) =

FCFF Next Year

WACC g

Equity Value Under FCFF Valuation Model = Total Business Value Market Value of Debt

Business Equity Value (under FCFE model) =

FCFE Next Year

rg

Where,
WACC stands for weighted average cost of capital
r is the required return on equity
g is the growth rate of FCFF and FCFE respectively
In real life more complex valuation models project cash flows by using more precise period on period
growth rates.

Examples
Example 1: FCFF Valuation Model
Free cash flow to firm for Frontier Ceramics is currently $300 million but is expected to grow by 4%
each year forever. If the company's cost of capital is 10%, how much is it worth? If market value of
debt is $3,000 million and FC has 200 million shares outstanding, find per share value of FC.
Solution

Total Business Value = $300M (1 + 4%) = $5,200M

10% 4%
The model applied here essentially calculates the present value of a growing perpetuity. The relevant
FCFF is calculated by projecting current year FCFF at the growth rate for one year.
If market value of debt is $3,000 million, value of equity is $2,200 million [= $5,200M $3,000M].
Per share intrinsic value for FC is $11 [= $2,200M $200M].
Example 2: FCFE Valuation Model
PQ has 1 million shares outstanding. Its projected FCFE for next year is $30 million, its required return
on equity is 13% and perpetual growth rate of FCFE is 5.5%. Find the intrinsic value of the company's
share.
Solution

Business Equity Value (under FCFE model) =

Intrinsic Value per Share =

$400M

$30M
13% 5.5%
= $40 per share

= $5,200M