A major energy company, GDE, generates and distributes electricity in country A.
The government of country A is concerned about rising inflation and has imposed price controls on GDE, limiting the price it can charge per unit of electricity sold to both domestic and commercial customers. It is likely that price controls will continue for the foreseeable future.
The introduction of price controls is likely to reduce the profit for the current year from $3 billion to $1 billion.
The company has:
* Distributable reserves of $2 billion.
* Surplus cash at the start of the year of $1 billion.
* Plans to pay a total dividend of $1.5 billion in respect of the current year, representing a small annual increase as in previous years. However, no dividends have yet been announced.
Which THREE of the following responses would be MOST appropriate for GDE following the imposition of price controls?
Company A is a listed company that produces pottery goods which it sells throughout Europe. The pottery is then delivered to a network of self employed artists who are contracted to paint the pottery in their own homes.
Finished goods are distributed by network of sales agents.The directors of Company A are now considering acquiring one or more smaller companies by means of vertical integration to improve profit margins.
Advise the Board of Company A which of the following acquisitions is most likely to achieve the stated aim of vertical integration?
Modigliani and Miller are the main proponents of the view that the dividend policy is irrelevant to the value of a company's shares.
They argue that a company that continually reinvests its entire earnings would generate the same shareholder wealth if it engaged in a policy of high dividends and financed its expansion with funds obtained from rights issues.
Which THREE of the following statements are assumptions that are required in order to support this proposition?
Company X is an established, unquoted company which provides IT advisory services.
The company's results and cashflows are growing steadily and it has few direct competitors due to the very specialised nature of it's business. Dividends are predictable and paid annually.
Company P is looking to buy 30% of company X's equity shares.
Which TWO of the following methods are likely to be considered most suitable valuation methods for valuing company P's investment in Company X?
A company's Board of Directors wishes to determine a range of values for its equity.
The following information is available:
Estimated net asset values (total asset less total liabilities including borrowings):
* Net book value = $20 million
* Net realisable value = $25 million
* Free cash flows to equity = $3.5 million each year indefinitely, post-tax.
* Cost of equity = 10%
* Weighted Average Cost of Capital = 7%
Advise the Board on reasonable minimum and maximum values for the equity.
