Chapter - 15

Capital Structure
Theory and Policy

Chapter Objectives
Understand the theoretical controversy about capital

structure and the value of the firm.

Highlight the differences between the Modigliani
Miller view and the traditional view on the relationship
between capital structure and the cost of capital and
the value of the firm.
Focus on the interest tax shield advantage of debt as
well as its disadvantage in terms of costs of financial
distress.
Explain how beta is related to capital structure and
the cost of capital.
Discuss the concept and utility of the adjusted
present value (APV) in project evaluation.
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Debt-equity Mix and the Value of

the Firm

Capital structure theories:

Net operating income (NOI) approach.
Traditional approach and Net income (NI)
approach.
MM hypothesis with and without corporate tax.
Millers hypothesis with corporate and personal
taxes.
Trade-off theory: costs and benefits of leverage.

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Net Income (NI) Approach

According to NI approach

both the cost of debt and

the cost of equity are
independent of the capital
structure;
they
remain
constant regardless of how
much debt the firm uses.
As a result, the overall cost
of capital declines and the
firm value increases with
debt. This approach has no
basis
in
reality;
the
optimum capital structure
would be 100 per cent debt
financing
under
NI
approach.

Cost

ke, ko

ke

ko
kd

kd

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Debt

Traditional Approach
The

traditional approach
argues that moderate degree
of debt can lower the firms
overall cost of capital and
thereby, increase the firm
value. The initial increase in
the cost of equity is more
than offset by the lower cost
of debt. But as debt increases,
shareholders perceive higher
risk and the cost of equity
rises until a point is reached
at which the advantage of
lower cost of debt is more
than offset by more expensive
equity.

Cost

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ke

ko

kd

Debt

Net Operating Income (NOI) Approach

According

to
NOI
approach the value of
the
firm
and
the
weighted average cost
of
capital
are
independent
of
the
firms capital structure.
In the absence of taxes,
an individual holding all
the debt and equity
securities will receive
the same cash flows
regardless of the capital
structure and therefore,
value of the company is
the same.

Cost

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ke

ko
kd

Debt

MM Approach Without Tax:

Proposition I
MMs

Proposition
I
states that the firms
value is independent of
its capital structure. With
personal
leverage,
shareholders can receive
exactly the same return,
with the same risk, from
a levered firm and an
unlevered firm. Thus,
they will sell shares of
the over-priced firm and
buy shares of the underpriced firm until the two
values equate. This is
called arbitrage.

Cost

ko

Debt
MM's Proposition I

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Arbitrage
Levered Firm (L):
Vl Sl Dl 60,000 50,000 110,000
kd interest rate 6%; NOI X 10,000

l shares held by an investor in L 10%

Unlevered Firm (U ):
Vu Su 100,000
NOI X 10,000

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Arbitrage
Return from Levered Firm:
Investment 10% 110, 000 50 , 000 10% 60, 000 6 , 000
Return 10% 10, 000 6% 50, 000 1, 000 300 700
Alternate Strategy:
1. Sell shares in L: 10% 60,000 6,000
2. Borrow (personal leverage): 10% 50,000 5,000
3. Buy shares in U : 10% 100,000 10,000
Return from Alternate Strategy:
Investment 10,000
Return 10% 10,000 1,000
Less: Interest on personal borrowing 6% 5,000 300
Net return 1,000 300 700
Cash available 11,000 10,000 1,000
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MMs Proposition II
The cost of equity for a

levered firm equals the

constant overall cost of
capital plus a risk premium
that equals the spread
between the overall cost of
capital and the cost of debt
multiplied by the firms
debt-equity
ratio.
For
financial leverage to be
irrelevant, the overall cost
of capital must remain
constant, regardless of the
amount of debt employed.
This implies that the cost of
equity
must rise as
financial risk increases.

Cost
ke

ko

kd

Debt
MM's Proposition I

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MM Propositions I and II
MM Proposition I :
V

X
ko

X
ko
V
MM Proposition II :
X kd D
S
ke ko (ko kd )D/S
ke

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MM Hypothesis With Corporate Tax

Under current laws in most countries, debt has an

important advantage over equity: interest payments on
debt are tax deductible, whereas dividend payments and
retained earnings are not. Investors in a levered firm
receive in the aggregate the unlevered cash flow plus an
amount equal to the tax deduction on interest. Capitalising
the first component of cash flow at the all-equity rate and
the second at the cost of debt shows that the value of the
levered firm is equal to the value of the unlevered firm plus
the interest tax shield which is tax rate times the debt
(if the shield is fully usable).
It is assumed that the firm will borrow the same amount of
debt in perpetuity and will always be able to use the tax
shield. Also, it ignores bankruptcy and agency costs.
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LEVERAGE BENEFIT UNDER CORPOATE AND PERSONAL TAXES

Corp
Corp
Pers
Pers

tax
tax on div
tax on div
tax on int

Unlev
0%
0%
0%
0%

Lev
0%
0%
0%
0%

Unlev
35%
10%
0%
0%

Lev
35%
10%
0%
0%

PBIT
Int
PBT
Corp tax
PAT
Div
Div tax
Tol corp tax

2500
0
2500
0
2500
2500
0
0

2500
700
1800
0
1800
1800
0
0

2500
0
2500
875
1625
1477
148
1023

2500
700
1800
630
1170
1064
106
736

Div income
Pers tax on div
AT div income
Int income
Pers tax on int
AT int income
AT total income
Net leverage benifit

2500
0
2500
0
0
0
2500

1800
0
1800
700
0
700
2500
0

1477
0
1477
0
0
0
1477

1064
0
1064
700
0
700
1764
287

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MM Hypothesis with Corporate Tax

After-tax earnings of Unlevered Firm:
T

Value of Unlevered Firm:

X X (1 T )

X (1 T )
ku
After-tax earnings of Levered Firm:
Vu
T

X ( X kd D )(1 T ) kd D
X (1 T ) Tkd D
Value of Levered Firm:
Vl

X (1 T ) T kd D

ku
kd

Vu TD
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Millers Approach WITH Corporate

andToPersonal
Taxes capital structure both
establish an optimum

corporate and personal taxes paid on operating

income should be minimised. The personal tax rate is
difficult to determine because of the differing tax
status of investors, and that capital gains are only
taxed when shares are sold.
Merton miller proposed that the original MM
proposition I holds in a world with both corporate and
personal taxes because he assumes the personal tax
rate on equity income is zero. Companies will issue
debt up to a point at which the tax bracket of the
marginal bondholder just equals the corporate tax rate.
At this point, there will be no net tax advantage to
companies from issuing additional debt.
It is now widely accepted that the effect of personal
taxes is to lower the estimate of the interest tax shield.
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LEVERAGE BENEFIT UNDER CORPOATE AND PERSONAL TAXES

Lev Unlev
0% 35%
0% 10%
0%
0%
0%
0%

Lev Unlev
35% 35%
10% 10%
0% 20%
0%
0%

Lev Unlev
35% 35%
10% 10%
20% 20%
0% 20%

Lev Unlev
35% 35%
10% 10%
20% 20%
20% 30%

Lev
35%
10%
20%
30%

2500
700
1800
0
1800
1800
0
0

2500
0
2500
875
1625
1477
148
1023

2500
700
1800
630
1170
1064
106
736

2500
0
2500
875
1625
1477
148
1023

2500
700
1800
630
1170
1064
106
736

2500
700
1800
630
1170
1064
106
736

2500
700
1800
630
1170
1064
106
736

Div income
2500 1800
Pers tax on div
0
0
AT div income
2500 1800
Int income
0 700
Pers tax on int
0
0
AT int income
0 700
AT total income
2500 2500
Net leverage benifit
0

1477
0
1477
0
0
0
1477

1064
0
1064
700
0
700
1764
287

1477 1064
295
213
1182 851.2
0
700
0
0
0
700
1182 1551
370

Corp tax
Corp tax on div
Pers tax on div
Pers tax on int
PBIT
Int
PBT
Corp tax
PAT
Div
Div tax
Tol corp tax

Unlev
0%
0%
0%
0%
2500
0
2500
0
2500
2500
0
0

2500
0
2500
875
1625
1477
148
1023

1477 1064
295
213
1182 851.2
0
700
0
140
0
560
1182 1411
230

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2500
0
2500
875
1625
1407
148
1023

1407 1064
281
213
1126 851.2
0
700
0
210
0
490
1126 1341
216

16

Millers Approach with Corporate

and
Personal Taxes
After-tax earnings of Unlevered Firm:
T

X X (1 T )(1 Te )
Value of Unlevered Firm:
Vu

X (1 T )(1 Te )
ku

After-tax earnings of Levered Firm:

T

X ( X kd D )(1 T )(1 Te ) kd D (1 Td )
X (1 T )(1 Te ) kd D(1 Td ) kd D(1 Td )(1 Te )
Value of Levered Firm:
Vl

X (1 T )(1 Te ) kd D (1 Td ) (1 T )(1 Te )

ku (1 Te )
kd (1 Tb )

(1 T )(1 Te )
Vu D 1

(1

T
)
b

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%
Demand rate of
interest
id = io/(1 Tb)
is= io/(1 Tc)
Supply rate
of interest

Borrowing

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Financial Distress
Financial distress arises when a firm is not able to

meet its obligations to debt-holders.

For a given level of debt, financial distress occurs
because of the business (operating) risk . with higher
business risk, the probability of financial distress
becomes greater. Determinants of business risk are:

Operating leverage (fixed and variable costs)

Cyclical variations
Intensity of competition
Price fluctuations
Firm size and diversification
Stages in the industry life cycle
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Consequences of Financial Distress

Bankruptcy costs

Specific bankruptcy costs include legal and

administrative costs along with the sale of assets at
distress prices to meet creditor claims. Lenders build
into their required interest rate the expected costs of
bankruptcy which reduces the market value of equity
by a corresponding amount.

Indirect costs
Investing in risky projects.
Reluctance to undertake profitable projects.
Premature liquidation.
Short-term orientation.
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Debt Policy and Shareholders Conflicts

Shareholdermanager conflicts

Managers have a tendency to consume some of the

firms resources in the form of various perquisites.
Managers have a tendency to become unduly risk
averse and shirk their responsibilities as they have
no equity interest or when their equity interest falls.
They may be passing up profitable opportunities.

Shareholderbondholder conflicts

Shareholder value is created either by increasing the

value of the firm or by reducing the the value of its
bonds. Increasing the risk of the firm or issuing
substantial new debt are ways to redistribute wealth
from bondholders to shareholders. Shareholders do
not like excessive debt.
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Monitoring

Outside investors will discount the prices they are

willing to pay for the firms securities realising that
managers may not operate in their best interests.
Firms agree for monitoring and restrictive covenants
to assure the suppliers of capital that they will not
operate contrary to their interests.

Agency Costs

Agency costs are the costs of the monitoring and

control mechanisms.
Agency costs of debt include the recognition of the
possibility of wealth expropriation by shareholders.
Agency costs of equity include the incentive that
management has to expand the firm beyond the
point at which shareholder wealth is maximised.
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Financial Distress
Market Value of The Firm

Maximum value of firm

Costs of
financial distress
PV of interest
tax shields

Value of
unlevered
firm

Debt

Optimal amount
of debt

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Value of levered firm

Optimum Capital Structure:

Trade-off Theory

The optimum capital structure is a function of:

Agency costs associated with debt
The costs of financial distress
Interest tax shield
The value of a levered firm is:
Value of unlevered firm
+ PV of tax shield
PV of financial distress

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Pecking Order Theory

The announcement of a share issue reduces the share price
because investors believe managers are more likely to issue
when shares are overpriced.
Firms prefer internal finance since funds can be raised
without sending adverse signals.
If external finance is required, firms issue debt first and equity
as a last resort.
The most profitable firms borrow less not because they have
lower target debt ratios but because they don't need external
finance.

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Pecking Order Theory

Implications:
Internal equity may be better than external

equity.
Financial slack is valuable.
If external capital is required, debt is better.

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Features of an Appropriate Capital

Structure

Return
Risk
Flexibility
Capacity
Control

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Approaches to Establish Appropriate

Capital Structure
EBITEPS approach for analyzing the

impact of debt on EPS.

Valuation approach for determining the
impact of debt on the shareholders value.
Cash flow approach for analyzing the firms
ability to service debt.

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Cash Flow Approach to Target Capital

Structure
Cash adequacy and solvency

In determining a firms target capital structure, a key

issue is the firms ability to service its debt. The focus of
this analysis is also on the risk of cash insolvencythe
probability of running out of the cashgiven a
particular amount of debt in the capital structure. This
analysis is based on a thorough cash flow analysis and
not on rules of thumb based on various coverage ratios.

Components of cash flow analysis

Operating cash flows

Non-operating cash flows
Financial cash flows

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Reserve financial capacity

Reduction in operating and financial flexibility is

costly to firms competing in charging product and
factor markets. Thus firms need to maintain reserve
financial resources in the form of unused debt
capacity, large quantities of liquid assets, excess
lines of credit, access to a broad range of fund
sources.

Focus of cash flow analysis

Focus on liquidity and solvency

Identifies discretionary cash flows
Lists reserve financial flows
Goes beyond financial statement analysis
Relates debt policy to the firm value
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Cash Flow Analysis Versus EBITEPS

Analysis
The cash flow analysis has the following advantages

over EBITEPS analysis:

It focuses on the liquidity and solvency of the firm over a

long-period of time, even encompassing adverse
circumstances. Thus, it evaluates the firms ability to meet
fixed obligations.
It goes beyond the analysis of profit and loss statement and
also considers changes in the balance sheet items.
It identifies discretionary cash flows. The firm can thus
prepare an action plan to face adverse situations.
It provides a list of potential financial flows which can be
utilized under emergency.
It is a long-term dynamic analysis and does not remain
confined to a single period analysis.
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Practical Considerations in Determining

Capital Structure

Control
Widely-held Companies
Closely-held Companies
Flexibility
Loan Covenants
Early Repay ability
Reserve Capacity
Marketability
Market Conditions
Flotation Costs
Capacity of Raising Funds
Agency Costs
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32