Mercury Athletic Case Essay

Estimate the cost of capital for financing (Hint: Interest expense and total debt – Ascertain the return on equity to provide measures for the interest rate and the return to stockholders.

* First, we calculate the Net Operating Profit after Tax, which is equals to EBIT×1-t.

West Coast Fashions, Inc has decided to sell one of their segments, Mercury Athletic in the context of a broader reorganization. The head of the business development for Active Gear, Inc(AGI), John Liedtke, views this event as a good

Assumptions need to be made for the Cost of Equity. We used the corporate rate of 11.766%

Sportsman Shoes has been a leader in the shoe industry for more than thirty years. Sportsman manufactures and sells athletic shoes for all types of sports. The company has pursued a low-cost strategy in order to sustain their success. They sell a limited number of shoe designs and have held costs low through manufacturing efficiency and standardized operations. However, the past five years have been a struggle at Sportsman. The shoe market has seen a rise in the availability of low-cost imported shoes that has threatened Sportsman’s competitive position. As a result, company executives have decided it is time for a strategy shift.

11. What is the Cost of Equity? ke = Risk Free Rate + (Beta X Risk Premium of 7.5% points). .03 + (.99 x .075) = 10.43%.

The cost of equity was found using CAPM, with the given market risk premium of 5%, a beta of .88, and risk-free rate of 4.03%. The beta was found by running a regression of Southwest’s percent change in stock price versus the S&P 500’s percent change in stock price for two years (June 28, 2000 to June 28, 2002). The risk-free rate was the return on a ten-year treasury note issued on June 28, 2002, according to the U.S. Treasury’s website. The tax rate of 39% was used to account for tax savings from leverage. In order to calculate the firm’s leverage, the market value of equity was found from the price per share on July 24, 2002 (Yahoo Finance) and the shares outstanding on the balance sheet of the July 10-Q report, as shown in Exhibit X. The debt value was approximated at the book value since data could not be found regarding its market value. This analysis resulted in a debt weight of 11.74% and equity weight of 88.26%. The final approximation for the weighted average cost of capital was 8.64%.

The women's apparel market is highly competitive. With the launch of a new active-wear line from Harrington Collection's, more and more competitors will start to realise the potential value in in producing an active-wear line of their own. The active-wear market is growing so rapidly (expected to double turnover from 2007 to 2009), that eventually all of Harrington's competitors would likely be expected to launch a line of their own, relying on existing brand loyalty and high-scale advertising campaigns to capture market share and move units.

The mixture of debt-equity mix is important so as to maximize the stock price of the Costco. However, it will be significant to consider the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) as well so that it can evaluate the company targeted capital structure. Cost of capital (OC) may be used by the companies as for long term decision making, so industries that faced to take the important of Cost of capital seriously may not make the right choice by choosing the right project(Gitman’s, ).

To find the cost of equity we used the formula rs = rRF + beta*MRP in which rRF2002 = 5.86% and the Market Risk Premium (MRP) = 5% as calculated by the Southwest Airlines finance department. We then calculated the beta for Southwest Airlines based on a regression analysis of five-year monthly returns on Southwest stock from January 1997 to January 2002, compared with the S&P 500 returns over the same period. This regression analysis indicated that Beta = .2219. Therefore,

7. What is the cost of capital for Marriott’s contract services division? How can you estimate its equity costs without

The next step was to calculate the free cash flows for the eleven-year period. In order to do so, we used to following formula: FCF = EBIT(1-tax) + depreciation - change in NWC – CapEx. From here, we used to WACC of 13.89% previously calculated, in order to find the present value of each FCF.

The free cash flow method is used to gauge “a company’s cash flow beyond that necessary to grow at the current rate… [to ensure companies] make capital expenditures to continue to exist and to grow” (Drake, n.d.). Calculation of free cash flows utilizes various components, including a firm’s value, cash flow forecasts, a firm’s capital structure, the cost of capital, and/or discounted cash flows.

Cost of Equity is the return that stockholders require for a company. A company’s cost of equity represents the compensation that the market demands in exchange for owning the assets and bearing the risk of ownership. Based on capital markets the cost of equity varies in direct relation to the assumed risk in that specific market. The distinctive of the firm is the sensitivity to market risk (β) which depends on everything from management to its business and capital structure. Therefore past performances and present conditions have a direct effect on the overall value. Applying calculations at a divisional level allows specified markets to be analysis based on present market conditions for that service or product. The formula used to calculate Cost of Equity is:

Active footwear: This segment would be geared towards people that prefer products intended for healthy living. Customers would use the footwear for active purposes such as boating, walking, and hiking