CHAPTER 21

INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE
FINANCE
Solutions to Questions and Problems

NOTE: All end of chapter problems were solved using a spreadsheet. Many problems require multiple
steps. Due to space and readability constraints, when these intermediate steps are included in this
solutions manual, rounding may appear to have occurred. However, the final answer for each problem is
found without rounding during any step in the problem.

Basic

1. Using the quotes from the table, we get:

a. $100(€0.6509/$1) = €65.09

b. $1.5363

c. €5M($1.5363/€) = $7,681,672

d. New Zealand dollar

e. Mexican peso

f. (P10.3584/$1)($1.5363/€1) = P15.9140/€

This is a cross rate.

g. Most valuable: Kuwait dinar = $3.7595

Least valuable: Vietnam dong = $0.00006020
2. a. You would prefer £100, since:

(£100)(£1/$0.5135) = $194.74

b. You would still prefer £100. Using the $/£ exchange rate and the SF/£ exchange rate to find the
amount of Swiss francs £100 will buy, we get:

(£100)($1.9474/£1)($/SF 0.9531) = SF 240.3227

c. Using the quotes in the book to find the SF/£ cross rate, we find:

(SF 0.9531/$)($1.9474/£1) = SF 2.0432/£1

The £/SF exchange rate is the inverse of the SF/£ exchange rate, so:

£1/SF 2.0432 = £0.4894/SF 1

3. a. F180 = ¥106.96 (per $). The yen is selling at a premium because it is more expensive in the
forward market than in the spot market ($0.009241 versus $0.0093493).

b. F90 = $0.9706/C$1. The dollar is selling at a discount because it is less expensive in the forward
market than in the spot market ($0.9716 versus $0.9706).

c. The value of the dollar will fall relative to the yen, since it takes more dollars to buy one yen in
the future than it does today. The value of the dollar will rise relative to the Canadian dollar,
because it will take fewer dollars to buy one Canadian dollar in the future than it does today.

4. a. The U.S. dollar, since one Canadian dollar will buy:

(Can$1)/(Can$1.06/$1) = $0.9434

b. The cost in U.S. dollars is:

(Can$2.50)/(Can$1.06/$1) = $2.36

Among the reasons that absolute PPP doesn’t hold are tariffs and other barriers to trade,
transactions costs, taxes, and different tastes.

c. The U.S. dollar is selling at a premium, because it is more expensive in the forward market than
in the spot market (Can$1.11 versus Can$1.06).

d. The Canadian dollar is expected to depreciate in value relative to the dollar, because it takes
more Canadian dollars to buy one U.S. dollar in the future than it does today.

e. Interest rates in the United States are probably lower than they are in Canada.

6. We can rearrange the interest rate parity condition to answer this question. The equation we will use
is:

RFC = (Ft – S0)/S0 + RUS

 Using this relationship, we find:

Great Britain: RFC = (£0.5204 – £0.5135)/£0.5135 + .022 = .0354 or 3.54%

Japan: RFC = (¥106.96 – ¥108.21)/¥108.21 + .022 = .0104 or 1.04%

Switzerland: RFC = (SFr 1.0478 – SFr 1.0492)/SFr 1.0492 + .022 = .0207 or 2.07%

8. Using the relative purchasing power parity equation:

Ft = S0 × [1 + (hFC – hUS)]t

We find:

Z2.26 = Z2.17[1 + (hFC – hUS)]3

hFC – hUS = (Z2.26/Z2.17)1/3 – 1
hFC – hUS = .0136 or 1.36%

Inflation in Poland is expected to exceed that in the U.S. by 1.36% over this period.
9. The profit will be the quantity sold, times the sales price minus the cost of production. The
production cost is in Singapore dollars, so we must convert this to U.S. dollars. Doing so, we find
that if the exchange rates stay the same, the profit will be:

Profit = 30,000[$150 – {(S$204.70)/(S$1.3803/$1)}]

Profit = $50,967.18

If the exchange rate rises, we must adjust the cost by the increased exchange rate, so:

Profit = 30,000[$150 – {(S$204.70)/(1.1(S$1.3803/$1))}]

Profit = $455,424.71

If the exchange rate falls, we must adjust the cost by the decreased exchange rate, so:

Profit = 30,000[$150 – {(S$204.70)/(0.9(S$1.3803/$1))}]

Profit = –$443,369.80

To calculate the breakeven change in the exchange rate, we need to find the exchange rate that make
the cost in Singapore dollars equal to the selling price in U.S. dollars, so:

$150 = S$204.70/ST
ST = S$1.3647/$1
ST = –0.0113 or –1.13% decline

10. a. If IRP holds, then:

F180 = (Kr 5.15)[1 + (.057 – .038)]1/2

F180 = Kr 5.1987

Since given F180 is Kr5.22, an arbitrage opportunity exists; the forward premium is too high.
Borrow Kr1 today at 5.7% interest. Agree to a 180-day forward contract at Kr 5.22. Convert the
loan proceeds into dollars:

Kr 1 ($1/Kr 5.15) = $0.19417

Invest these dollars at 3.8%, ending up with $0.19778. Convert the dollars back into krone as

$0.19778(Kr 5.22/$1) = Kr 1.03241

Repay the Kr 1 loan, ending with a profit of:

Kr1.03241 – Kr1.02771 = Kr 0.0469

b. To find the forward rate that eliminates arbitrage, we use the interest rate parity condition, so:

F180 = (Kr 5.15)[1 + (.057 – .038)]1/2

F180 = Kr 5.1987
11. The international Fisher effect states that the real interest rate across countries is equal. We can
rearrange the international Fisher effect as follows to answer this question:

RUS – hUS = RFC – hFC

hFC = RFC + hUS – RUS

a. hAUS = .04 + .039 – .058

hAUS = .021 or 2.1%

b. hCAN = .07 + .039 – .058

hCAN = .051 or 5.1%

c. hTAI = .09 + .039 – .058

hTAI = .071 or 7.1%

12. a. The yen is expected to get weaker, since it will take more yen to buy one dollar in the future
than it does today.

b. hUS – hJAP  (¥116.03 – ¥114.32)/¥114.32

hUS – hJAP = 0.0150 or 1.50%

(1 + .0150)4 – 1 = 0.0612 or 6.12%

The approximate inflation differential between the U.S. and Japan is 6.12% annually.

13. We need to find the change in the exchange rate over time so we need to use the interest rate parity
relationship:

Ft = S0 × [1 + (RFC – RUS)]t

Using this relationship, we find the exchange rate in one year should be:

F1 = 152.93[1 + (.086 – .049)]1

F1 = HUF 158.59

The exchange rate in two years should be:

F2 = 152.93[1 + (.086 – .049)]2

F2 = HUF 164.46

And the exchange rate in five years should be:

F5 = 152.93[1 + (.086 – .049)]5

F5 = HUF 183.39
 Intermediate

15. a. Implicitly, it is assumed that interest rates won’t change over the life of the project, but the
exchange rate is projected to decline because the Euroswiss rate is lower than the Eurodollar
rate.

b. We can use relative purchasing power parity to calculate the dollar cash flows at each time. The
equation is:

E[St] = (SFr 1.09)[1 + (.07 – .08)]t

E[St] = 1.09(.99)t

So, the cash flows each year in U.S. dollar terms will be:

t SFr E[St] US$

0 –24.0M 1.0900 –$22,018,348.63
1 +6.6M 1.0791 $6,116,207.95
2 +6.6M 1.0683 $6,177,987.83
3 +6.6M 1.0576 $6,240,391.75
4 +6.6M 1.0470 $6,303,426.01
5 +6.6M 1.0366 $6,367,096.98

And the NPV is:

NPV = –$22,018,348.62 + $6,116,207.95/1.12 + $6,177,987.83/1.122 + $6,240,391.75 /1.123 +

$6,303,426.01/1.124 + $6,367,096.98/1.125
NPV = $428,195.99

c. Rearranging the relative purchasing power parity equation to find the required return in Swiss
francs, we get:

RSFr = 1.12[1 + (.07 – .08)] – 1

RSFr = 10.88%

So the NPV in Swiss francs is:

NPV = –SFr 24.0M + SFr 6.6M(PVIFA10.88%,5)

NPV = SFr 466,733.63

Converting the NPV to dollars at the spot rate, we get the NPV in U.S. dollars as:

NPV = (SFr 466,733.63)($1/SFr 1.09)

NPV = $428,195.99