The Rise and Fall of Abc Learning

2) The higher ratio of Debt to Total Equity may result to the lower of the debt credit rating. The lower of the credit rating will result to increase of the interest rate which will cost more to the company.

- if they get more debt, then it makes the company less attractive to prospect lenders since their

The capital structure of a company changes the risks exposure highlighting the need to determine the impact of debt levels on financial risk (Pearson Learning, 2014). The dividend payout is the ratio of dividends per share to the earnings per share, and both ratios increased for the three years. The increase in the DPS rose at a decreasing rate resulting in slower growth in the dividend payout. The dividend per share is dependent on the total number of dividends paid out in an interim year, and the increase in the DPS was in line with the management’s efforts to reward the investors as the earnings improved. The dividend yield representing the dividend paid out relative to the share price, and the lower divided yield in December 2014 can be attributed to the higher share price hovering over $40, which was more than double the share price in the previous

In the two years presented in the case study (2009-2010), Yum Brands, Inc. saw a significant decline in its operating cash flow/current maturities of long-term debt and current notes payable. This indicates that they are less able to meet their current debt obligation. However, when looking at operating cash flow/total debt, there is an increase of 7.3% showing that Yum Brands, Inc. is more able to cover its debt with operating cash. A review of the operating cash flow per share shows an increase of $1.14 showing an improvement in its ability to make capital expense decisions and pay dividends to its shareholders. Finally, Yum Brands, Inc. a .9 increase in operating cash flow/cash

The advantages of debt financing are that: bond investors are generally willing to accept a lower rate of return as compared to equity investors, the debt interest is tax deductible, and bond investors do not have voting rights on company issues. (Anthony 243) General Motors’ times interest earned ratio has generally stayed on course except for 1998. This shows that GM needs strong sales volumes to pay its on its liabilities due to the low profit margin. If a long-term decline in worldwide auto sales occurs, GM may have difficulty paying on its debt.

Most corporate financing decisions in practice reduce to a choice between debt and equity. The finance manager wishing to fund a new project, but reluctant to cut dividends or to make a rights issue, which leads to the decision of borrowing options. The issue with regards to shareholder objectives being met by the management in making financing decisions has come to become a major issue of recent times. This relates to understanding the concept of the agency problem. It deals with the separation of ownership and control of an organisation within a financial context. The financial manager can raise long-term funds internally, from the company’s cash flow, or externally, via the capital market, the market for funds

To improve their goodwill and reliability; To inflate the prices of shares that would lead to the possibly increase capital; Avoiding debt covenant restrictions as the lender’s agreement states a minimum limit of term loan of cash and unpledged receivables, working capital and net worth.

pay for the interest) and also effect the asset-liability ratio, making the company owe more than

ABC Learning Ltd was an Australian provider of early child hood education services, founded in Queensland in 1988, that through its 18 centres was the largest single operator of early childhood education services in Australia by 1997. Led by founder Eddy Groves, ABC Learning Ltd continued to grow, through the opening of new centres and the acquisitions of rivals i.e. peppercorn Childcare in 2004 in which 450 centres were purchased for $340 million. “By 2008, ABC Learning was the largest provider of childcare, holding around 20 per cent of the long day care market and providing care to over 100 000 children” (Senate education, employment workplace relations committee, 2009).

Based on the Time Interest Earned Ratio Landry’s ability to pay interest bills from profit earned decreased. In 2002 Landry’s could pay their interest bill just over 13 times from earnings before interest tax. In 2003 Landry’s ability to pay interest bills was almost cut in-half to 7 times. We think that as a result of the decrease in ability to pay interest bills, creditors could be concerned about these findings.

Adding more debt into capital structure will reduce agency As more debts are added, agency cost of debt cost of equity as managers are left with less free cash flow Lowest agency cost of equity. would be further reduced. that could have been exploited for perk consumption. Since part of the earnings is paid to meet the debt repayments, dividends paid deceases comparing with actual 2011. But this is counter-balanced by increased earnings per share (EPS) as the shares outstanding is reduced Comparing with 20% leverage, dividend continues to decrease but EPS

Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller examined how a corporation should select securities to sell in order to attain an optimal mix between debt and equity, the mirror image of what Markowitz and Tobin had studied. Their findings led them to the conclusion that the market value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. In an efficient market, the market will place the same value on firms with equal earnings power and equal risk. Their most innovative contribution to the theory of finance was in elevating arbitrage to the level of a driving force. This Law of One Price states, “two assets with identical attributes should sell for the same price… a profitable opportunity will arise to sell the asset where it is overpriced and to buy it back when it is underpriced. The arbitrager will then lock in a sure profit, otherwise known as a free lunch.” (171) In effect, arbitragers actually fix the imperfections in the market by bidding away the

Another measure of a company’s ability to pay back loans, this time over a long period, measures solvency. Coca-Cola’s debt to total assets ratio is 35% in 2004 and 33% in 2005 compared to PepsiCo’s less attractive ratio of 52% in 2004 to 55% in 2005. Coca-Cola’s debts represent a healthy percentage of assets and in this case the lower the number the better. Coca-Cola’s debt to total assets ratio decreased by 2% from 2004 to 2005 while PepsiCo’s ratio increased by 3%. Were a potential lender or investor to look at these numbers alone they would prefer the performance of Coca-Cola over PepsiCo but there are still many calculations to be made and factors to consider.

If the firms funding requirements are larger than their retained earnings, they must issue debt as this is preferred to issuing equity. Based on this theory, a firm’s financing policies could be viewed as signalling management’s view of the firm’s stock value (Wang & Lin 2010).Myers and Majluf (1984) also add that if firms issued no new securities but only used its retained earning to support the investment opportunities, the information asymmetric could be resolved. This suggests that issuing equity turn out to be more expensive as asymmetric information insiders and outsiders increase. Large firms should then issue debt to avoid selling under priced securities. As the requirement for external financing increases, businesses will work down the pecking order, from safe to riskier debt, perhaps to convertible securities or preferred stock, and finally to equity as a last resort. Each firm's debt ratio therefore reflects its cumulative requirement for external financing (Myers 2001).The pecking order theory clarifies why the bulk of external financing comes from debt. It also describes why organizations that are more profitable borrow less: since their goal debt ratio is, low-in the pecking order they do not have a goal since profitable firms have more internal financing available.

If external financing is required, the “safest” securities, namely debt, are issued first. Although investors fear mispricing of both debt and equity, the fear is much greater for equity. Corporate debt still relatively little risk compared to equity because, if financial distress is avoided, investors receive a fixed return.. Thus, the pecking order theory implies that, if outside financing required, debt should be issued before equity. Only when the firm’s debt capacity is reached should the firm consider equity.