Linear Technology

How will a buyback of shares provide a “quick fix” for EPS (earning per share)?

When a company decides to pay dividends, it has to be careful on how much it will be given to the shareholders. It is of no use to pay shareholders dividends

- A firm has a market value equal to its book value. Currently, the firm has excess cash of $1,200 and other assets of $10,800. Equity is worth $12,000. The firm has 750 shares of stock outstanding and net income of $775. What will the new earnings per share be if the firm uses its excess cash to complete a stock repurchase?

Since firms incur the re-purchase option by offering $20 cash for each stock bought back, the number of outstanding shares will be reduced. The Earnings per share will increase leading to an increased stock price.

Linear Technology Corporation (“LLTC” or the “Company”), headquartered in Milpitas, California, was founded in 1981 by Robert Swanson. LLTC designs, manufactures, and markets a broad line of analog integrated circuits (“IC”) (semiconductors) worldwide. LLTC’s linear circuits are used in various electronic applications, such as cellular telephones, digital cameras, complex medical devices, and navigation systems. LLTC focuses on the analog segment in the semiconductor industry and has moderate-to-high exposure in the communications industry and computer industry, which, in 2002, accounted for 33% and 27% of LLTC’s total sales, respectively. The automotive industry accounted for 6%, and the remaining 34% was spread across various industries. LLTC’s customer base is well-diversified and no single customer accounts for even 5% of its business. The capital investment in the analog IC industry is modest. The cost of a new analog fabrication facility (“fabs”) is approximately $200 million, substantially lower than the cost of a digital fab built by Intel, which can be as high as $2 billion. Once built, the useful life of analog fabs can be over 10 years, while digital fabs often become obsolete in three to five years. Research and development (“R&D”) is also modest as observed in the fact that LLTC’s R&D peaked at $102 million in 2001 .

The repurchase program increases the shareholder’s value. This is because of a rise in the price of the shares of the original shareholders.

The number of shares outstanding will remain the same and thus, the only change in the equity side of the balance sheets for the next three years will be the change in the amount of retained earnings. This change will be equal to the net income of the company for last year because the company will not pay a dividend.

6. The financial riskiness of SciTronics increased between 2005 and 2008 as demonstrated by its higher debt-to-equity ratio. However this does not seem to pose a problem for the company as it actually managed to improve its margin of protection for creditors (it is now able to generate $13 in income for each $1 of interest, versus a previous 10 times interest earned).

Pro-forma income statement and key credit rating determinants are shown in Exhibit 2 and 3 respectively. Remaining share no. of 158.3m after repurchase is based on proportional value addition distribution between cash-out and remaining shareholders and this number is inserted to calculate earning per share and corresponding immediate share price change after announcement of repurchase program. According to Exhibit 3 and industrial average of relevant grades, only fund flow/ total debt and total debt/ capital measures are not comparable with A credit rating. Considering EBIT and EBITDA interest coverage are two most important criteria and equity market value is so substantially different from book value which leads to a healthy

Management considering share repurchase program should weigh its benefit of financial discipline, efficient corporate strategy implementation and utilization of tax shield against the downside of cost of financial distress. It’s not the possibility of bankruptcy that causes concerns among equity holders regarding extent of leverage but the direct costs (legal, liquidation, administrative etc.) and indirect costs (deteriorated corporate image, management time and attention, agency costs of value-destructing investment, distress asset sales etc.). Exhibit 4 lists the key assumption inputs of approximating quantitative firm value/ equity value accretion. Levering UST to a larger extent by adding $1,000m does increase firm value.

Because firm value will rise to $6,850.8 million immediately after the recapitalization announcement, original shareholders will capture the full benefit of interest tax shield since they are able to sell their stocks at a higher price. The new stock price is determined by dividing the value of the levered firm by the number of shares outstanding at the end of 1998. Since there were 185, 516,055 shares outstanding at year end 1998, the new stock price after the announcement of recapitalization would be $6,850.8 million divided by 185, 516,055, which is $36.93. Compared to the

The dividend policy has grown over the years. This may be so that the company projects itself as a less risky share and thus also gaining investors faith. The investors buy its shares and thus increase its demand. This helps to gives positive signals to the investors signalling that the company is stable and can generate earnings steadily. This hypothesis is gains standing from the dividend hypothesis theory.

First, a large share repurchase will significantly increase shareholders’ percentage ownership of BKI. BKI has been under levered for decades. The company acquisitions of several small manufacturers made shareholders’ equity be diluted even more. In other words, shareholders, especially the main shareholders in Blaine’s board, are paying for BKI’s over-liquidity. This share repurchase will not only give the board more flexibility to allot dividends, but will lead to a stable development of BKI’s business in the long run.

1. In theory, to fund an increased dividend payout or a stock buyback, a firm might invest less, borrow more, or issue more stock. Which of these three elements is Eastboro management willing to vary, and which elements remain fixed as a matter of policy?

Once a company makes a profit, they must decide on what to do with those profits. They could continue to retain the profits within the company, or they could pay out the profits to the owners of the firm in the form of dividends. Once the company decides on whether to pay dividends, they may establish a somewhat permanent dividend policy, which may in turn impact on investors and perceptions of the company in the financial markets. What they decide depends on the situation of the