Jaguar PLC Case Summary

This case shows us that apart from transaction, translation and economic exposure to currency risk, firms also have the very real strategic impact on their competitive position from competitive exposure. Apart from GM’s exposure to the yen which is reflected in their financial statements, their competitive position vis-à-vis Japanese manufacturers is affected by a potentially declining yen. This is because a declining yen reduces the Japanese manufacturers’ $ cost, enabling them to pass on some of the benefit to US customers and thus taking some of GM’s market share. This will impact GM’s top and bottom line. However, GM has a difficult decision regarding managing this risk.

The current 50% hedging policy executed at the fund level has served well for OTPP for the past ten years, contributing to the fund’s positive returns. The FX Hedge Program not only has minimized the downside risk, but has also limited the upside potential. If OTPP decided not to implement a hedging program in 1996, they would have lost about $983 million CAD over the ten year period (1995-2005) which is valued at 2% of the portfolio. With the hedging program, OTPP was able to reduce the overall loss to about $469 million CAD, but also limited the gain from the depreciation of the pound.(Exhibit 1) Hedging is an excellent short-term risk minimizing strategy for long term investors, sustaining a continual payout of pensions during volatile times in OTPP’s invested currency markets. Currently, approximately 21% of OTPP’s net assets are exposed to foreign currency risk. Consequently, it is essential that OTPP maintain a risk management program of hedging, as slight currency fluctuations can significantly affect the value of the fund. Similarly to continual renewal of swaps, hedging can be a very expensive risk management strategy.

Looking into the competitive threat more closely, the auto industry in the United States is rather sensitive to price, with a price elasticity of 2, or a 5% increase in price contributing to a subsequent 10% fall in demand. Thus, based upon the sticker price decreases potentially implemented by Japanese automakers, Japanese companies’ combined market share (roughly 4.1m units in 2000) stands to increase substantially, and could eat into General Motors’ overall market share. To highlight the sensitivity to the USD-JPY spot exchange rate, GM’s VP of Finance, Eric Feldstein, suggests that just a one-yen depreciation increases competitors’ operating profit by $400m. With $900m in net yen receivables, $500m in outstanding yen-denominated bonds, and more

There are lots of methods to solve the changes in foreign currency and interest rates issue, however, derivative financial instruments are the major tunes Nike enterprise has used to tackle this issue. Despite the fact that this approach does not wipe out comprehensively the risk of foreign exchange, Nike enterprise still utilize it to minimize or delay the negative consequences. Specifically, the derivative financial instruments comprise embedded derivatives, interest rate swap, and foreign exchange forwards and options contracts (Nike annual report, 2014).

AIFS wants to offset any change in the exchange rates that may adversely affect their profit margins by using currency forward contracts and currency options. These hedging activities work to offset the three types of risk defined above as bottom-line risk, volume risk, and competitive pricing risk. Since these hedging activities must be put in place two years before the actual year of sales, AIFS must decide the proportion and cost

The starting point of any foreign exchange risk management plan is to identify the exchange exposure faced. In controlling the foreign exchange risk, currency options have attained acceptance as very helpful tools due to their exclusive nature. They are very critical and convey a much wider range of hedging alternatives. Call options provide the right to the buyer to purchase the

General Motors is one of the largest car manufacturing companies in the world. Best known for their automobiles, General motors have become a household name and an empire. It did so not only by selecting the right brands and manufacturers to work with but by remaining innovative and creating designs as rapidly as society develops. If you don’t think of GM when thinking of the auto industry, surely one of their many popular brands comes to mind.

IntroductionThis report is to check the hedging strategy that was used and lead to the huge loss of CITIC Pacific Limited and point out the importance of managing foreign exchange exposure through select appropriate hedging strategies. The huge loss of CITIC Pacific Limited and its cause is discussed in the first part. The importance of hedging and the tools of hedging are respectively reviewed in part two and part three. Finally, suggestions are given out on how to design proper hedging strategies for different enterprises.

The sale of receivables also depends on the purchasing willingness of counterparties. Aspen could find itself in a contracting finance cycle if the deferred payments are not paid on time and the finance institutions are willing to accept any further long term installment receivables. We also have to note that the company has further liabilities such as the 4 million dollar subordinated debenture to the Massachusetts Capital Resource Company. In the case of delayed payments of receivables, the purchasing unwillingness of finance institutions towards future sale of receivables and currents loans could trigger bankruptcy of Aspen. The long term deferment plan increases business but poses grave risk for the cash flow of the company. We also have to note that positive cash carries great significance as Aspen is now a publicly traded company, the cash flow could directly affect the stock price of the company and therefore influence the interest of investors towards Aspen. The company is also subjected to foreign exchange exposures due to the sales in foreign markets. The data shows us that 48 % of Aspen’s revenues come from United States, 31 % comes from Europe, 12 % from Asia and 9 % from other regions of the world. This subjects the company to have a hedge plan for British pounds, Yen, Yuan, Mark. We have to distinguish the fact that the company has hedging for receivables however this does not apply to expenses. We can come to the conclusion that the

has not hedged at all because they needed to pay the option premiums. If the U.S. dollar was

We first illustrate the concept of “Carry Trade”. It is the process whereby an investor borrows money from a low-interest country, uses the fund by converting (i.e. selling) it to a different currency yielding a higher interest rate. The aim of carry trade is to profit from the interest rate differential between the 2 countries involved. Huge profits as well as substantial lost are most of the time the likely benefit and downside risk respectively. First thing to look for when starting a carry trade is to look for the two currencies offering a high and low interest yield.

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss company and owns a prestigious position being the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness group (Nestlé, 2016). According to its annual report (2015), this company is exposed to many risks caused by movements in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rate and market prices. The foreign exchange risk comes from transactions and translations of foreign operations in Swiss Francs (CHF). The interest rate risk faces the borrowings at fixed and variable rates. The market price risk comes from commodity price and equity price. The former risk arises from world commodity market for the supplies of coffee, cocoa beans, sugar and others. The later risk arises from the fluctuations of the prices of investments held. (Nestle annual reports, 2015). Thus, financial derivatives instruments are used by this multinational corporation in order to hedge these risks.

In the late 1980s, Ford strategists took a good look at the booming luxury-car market and realized they needed a global luxury brand to rival BMW and Mercedes-Benz. They considered acquiring several luxury brands. First on the list was Alfa Romeo. But Ford lost Alfa Romeo when Fiat intervened, with a little help from the Italian government. Fiat did not want Alfa, but did not want Ford getting it either. Next came Saab and Jaguar. Ford was negotiating to buy both luxury-car companies at the same time. But Harold "Red" Poling, then Ford chairman decided Ford could not manage two acquisitions at once, so Ford backed out of the Saab talks. That left Ford to pay $2.5 billion for Jaguar, a legendary brand that had limped along

A financial analysis of Ford Motor Company’s (Ford) statements will identify their solvency in today’s automobile market. Elements such as liquidity, leverage, profitability, and activity ratios will demonstrate Ford’s financial health and stability. A further assessment of their technological advantages, global strategies, and benchmarking analysis will indicate the future prognosis of this company.

Hedging is a form of the method of dealing with the exchange rate to reduce the inevitable loss of profits, in simple terms, it is an insurance policy strategy (Shackman, 2015). Therefore, the leadership of the firm must account for the risk management hazards and develop its overall business