FNCE 370v8: Assignment 4

Assignment 4 is worth 5% of your final mark. Complete and submit Assignment 4 after you
complete Lesson 12.
There are 12 questions in this assignment. The break-down of marks for each question is
presented in the table below. Please show all your work as this will help the marker give you
part marks as well as serve as a good study aid as you prepare for the Final Examination.
Question
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total

Marks Available
5
5
5
5
10
15
10
10
5
10
10
10
100

Reference
Lesson 10
Lesson 10
Lesson 10
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 11
Lesson 11
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 12
Lesson 12
Lesson 12

1. Explain the interactions among market efficiency, capital budgeting, and the cost of
capital.
(5 marks)
2.

(5 marks)
a. Give two examples of anomalies in the financial markets.
b. What does the existence of these anomalies say about financial market efficiency?

3. You bought one of BB Co.s 9% coupon bonds one year ago for $1020. These bonds
make annual payments and mature six years from now. Suppose you decide to sell your
bonds today, when the required return on the bonds is 10%. If the inflation rate was
4.2% over the past year, what would be your total real return on investment?
(5 marks)

4. The returns on XYZ Corp. over the last four years are 10%, 12%, 3%, and -9%.
(5 marks)
a. What is the historical average return over the last four years?
b. What is the variance of the returns over the last four years?
c. What is the standard deviation of the returns over the last four years?
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5.

(10 marks)
a. Suppose we have two assets, A and B. What correlation levels between the two
assets will yield diversification benefits in terms of portfolio risk reduction?
b. At what correlation level will there be no diversification benefits in terms of portfolio
risk reduction?
c. Will there be any diversification benefits in terms of portfolio risk reduction in the
case when the correlation between the two assets returns is -1?

6.

(15 marks)
The expected returns, return variances, and the correlation between the returns of four
securities are shown below.
Security

Expected
Return

A
B
C
D

0.17
0.13
0.09
0.07

Variance of
Returns
0.0169
0.0361
0.0049
0.0050

Correlation
A
1.0

B
0.4
1.0

C
0.7
0.6
1.0

D
0.2
0.5
0.9
1.0

a. Determine the expected return and variance for a portfolio composed of 25% of
security A and 75% of security B.
b. Determine the expected return and variance of a portfolio that contains 78% security
A and 22% security B. Is this portfolio superior to that one in (a) above?
c. Calculate the expected return and variance of a portfolio that contains 60% security
C and 40% security D.
d. If an investor were to select among the following three portfolios, which one would
he or she prefer?
o

An equally-weighted portfolio of securities A, B, and C.

An equally-weighted portfolio of A, B, and D.

An equally-weighted portfolio of B, C, and D.

e. If a risk-adverse investor desires to hold a portfolio of only two securities and

expects a return of 11%, what would you advise the investor to do?

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7. Use the following information to answer the questions below.

Security
A
B

Return
15%
12%

Standard Deviation
8%
14%

(10 marks)

Beta
1.2
0.9

a. Which of A and B has the least total risk? The least systematic risk?
b. What is the value of systematic risk for a portfolio with 75% of the funds invested in
A and 25% of the funds invested in B?
c. Calculate the risk free rate of return and the market risk premium
(i.e., Rf and RM Rf).
d. What is the portfolio expected return and the portfolio beta if you invest 30% in A,
30% in B, and 40% in the risk-free asset?
(For questions (d) and (e), assume the risk free rate of return is 5%.)
e. What is the portfolio expected return with 125% invested in A and the remainder in
the risk-free asset via borrowing at the risk-free interest rate?
f.

8.

What is the beta of the portfolio created in part (e)?

Consider the following information on three stocks.

State of
economy
Boom
Normal
Bust

Probability of
state of
economy
0.5
0.3
0.2

(10 marks)

Rate of Return if State Occurs

Stock A
Stock B

Stock C

0.2
0.15
0.01

0.6
0.05
-0.5

0.35
0.12
-0.25

a. If your portfolio is invested 40% each in A and C, and 20% in B, what is the
portfolio expected return?
b. What is the variance of this portfolio?
c. What is the standard deviation of this portfolio?
d. If the expected T-Bill rate is 5%, what is the expected risk premium on the
portfolio?
e. If the expected inflation rate is 2.50%, what are the approximate and exact
expected real returns on the portfolio?
f.

If the expected T-Bill rate is 5% and the expected inflation rate is 2.50%, what
are the approximate and exact expected real risk premiums on the portfolio?

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9. Briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the dividend growth model to
estimate the cost of equity.
(5 marks)

10. Mustard Patch Doll Company needs to purchase new plastic moulding machines to meet
the demand for its product. The cost of the equipment is $100,000. It is estimated that
the firm will generate, after tax, operating cash flow (OCF) of $22,000 per year for the
next seven years. The firm is financed with 40% debt and 60% equity, both based on
market values. The firms cost of equity is 16% and its pre-tax cost of debt is 8%. The
flotation costs of debt and equity are 2% and 8%, respectively. Assume the firms tax
rate is 34% and ignore the effects of CCA depreciation.
(10 marks)
a. What is the firms tax adjusted WACC?
b. Ignoring flotation costs, what is the NPV of the proposed project?
c. What is the weighted average flotation cost, fA, for the firm?
d. What is the dollar flotation cost of the proposed financing?
e. After considering flotation costs, what is the NPV of the proposed project?
11. Photosynthesis, Inc. is considering a project that will result in initial after-tax cash
savings of $2 million at the end of the first year, and these savings will grow at a rate of
6% per year indefinitely. The firm has a target debt-equity ratio of 1.5, a cost of equity
of 20%, and an after-tax cost of debt of 7%. The cost-saving proposal is somewhat
riskier than the usual projects the firm undertakes; management uses the subjective
approach and applies an adjustment factor of +10% to the cost of capital for such risky
projects.
Under what circumstances should Photosynthesis take on the project?

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(10 marks)

12. ABC Co. has the following dividend payment history:

(10 marks)

Year

Dividend

2003

$1.00

2004

1.15

2005

1.25

2006

1.35

2007

1.45

a. How many periods of growth are there in the information given?

b. What is the compound growth rate of dividends?
c. Calculate the year-to-year growth rates in dividends.
d. What is the average year-to-year dividend growth rate?
e. Assume a retention ratio of 0.45 and a historical return on equity (ROE) of 0.18. Using
these two additional pieces of information, calculate an alternative estimate of dividend
growth rate, g.

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