Diageo Capital Structure Essay

Debt ratio percentages increased for Company G from 28.34% to 29.94%. Industry quartile is 30, 45 and 66 percent, putting Company G below average. Debt Ratio represents strength for Company G.

On a general level product margins look to be fairly strong, however when we take a closer look at the ABC costing method used for the beer label Bismark

DB could lower their short-term borrowing by lowering their dividend. This will not make the board of directors happy, since it has been mentioned that for some of their family members, this is their source of income. But lowering the dividend can be offset against

The debt-to-equity ratio (D/E) is a financial ratio indicating the relative proportion of shareholders' equity and debt used to finance a company's assets. Star River’s last year (2001) standing D/E ratio was 2.2 which is higher than its industry practice. A high debt/equity ratio generally means that the company has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt. This can result in volatile earnings as a result of the additional interest expense.

In July 2002, an investment banker advising Deluxe Corporation must prepare recommendations for the company’s board of directors regarding the firm’s financial policy. Some special considerations are the mix of debt and equity, maintenance of financial flexibility, and the preservation of an investment-grade bond rating. Complicating the assessment are low growth and technological obsolescence in the firm’s core business. The purpose is to recommend an appropriate financial policy for the firm and, in support of that recommendation, to show the impact on the firm’s cost of capital, financial flexibility (i.e., unused debt capacity), bond rating, and other considerations.

The decrease shows a prudent position particularly in when the world is undergoing economic recession; Rio Tinto Ltd reduced its reliance on debt to finance its assets. This also explained the 22% increase in current portion of long term debt, i.e. the company retired major portion of its debt holdings in the last year.

Specialist Sportswear Products(SSWD):(i) This segment has the least Operating Profit despite having highest revenue amongst all division, hence least

1. What do you think about the capital structure policies Diageo has pursued in the past. Do they make sense? How does it compare to Diageo’s competitors’ policies? Which competitors would make for the best comparison? 2. Why is Diageo selling Pillsbury and spinning off Burger King? How might value be created through these transactions? 3. Based on the results of the simulation model, what recommendations would you make for Diageo’s capital structure? Does the model capture all of the important risk factors faced by Diageo? Would you want to adjust the model I any way?

The long-term liquidity risk ratio such as LT debt/Equity, D/E, and Total Liabilities to Total Assets all show a decline from year 2005 due to the repayment of debts. The interest coverage ratio also shows a healthy number of 29.45 in comparison to the industrial average of 15.04 indicating a high ability to pay out its interest expense. Such a low relative risk is not surprising due to the nature of its business depending heavily in R&D development and large intangible assets.

Diageo was formed in 1997 through the merger of two consumer product companies Grand Metropolitan plc and Guinness plc under the strategy of reducing costs through marketing synergies, cutting overhead expenses and increasing production and purchasing efficiencies. The new merger wanted to concentrate solely on the beverage alcohol business, so it sold its packaged foods (Pillsbury) and fast food (Burger King) businesses. While the mandate for Managing for Value came from the highest levels of Diageo, the treasury team was given the task of establishing the cost of capital for each of the different areas the company operated. The team had to create a simulation model which should consider new finance

Diageo sought to maintain the low-debt (conservative) financial policies of the Guinness and Grand Met with goals to keep

2) Is Diageo’s current capital structure appropriate to its new business? It believes that it has traditionally had a conservative debt policy. If so, is that policy still appropriate? Has Diageo’s capital structure been as conservative

2. Do you think Bed Bath & Beyond has too much cash? Should Bed Bath & Beyond lever up? Consider both the 40% and 80% debt-to-total capital proposals.

The course project involved developing a great depth of knowledge in analyzing capital structure, theories behind it, and its risks and issues. Before I began this assignment, I knew nothing but a few things about capital structure from previous unit weeks; however, it was not until this course’s final project that came along with opening

In terms of financial flexibility, a relatively high interest coverage ratio (ICR) of 36.8 supports the company’s ability to Flexibility take on more debt. Especially by comparing the ratio with its peers, such ratio seems to match with its risk aversion philosophy. Agency Cost of Debt