This report discusses the capital structure, market value, and valuation methods for Telstra and Wesfarmers. It covers topics such as weighted average cost of capital, discounted cash flow method, and price earnings ratio. The report also provides insights on managing finance for companies.
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RUNNING HEAD: MANAGING FINANCE Company valuation
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Managing finance3 Introduction This report emphasizes upon the capital structure, market value and valuation methods which could be used to analyze the market price of the shares of two companies. In this report, two companies named, Telstra and Wesfarmers Company have been selected. Each and every company needs to keep its financial leverage low and profitability high if it wants to survive in long run. It will allow company to sustain its business in long run. Part-A Capital structure of the company generally comprises of two elements named as debt and equity. Every firm raises its capital from borrowing the funds and issuing the shares. Therefore, it becomes necessary for them to maintain a balance between its debt and equity portion in order to have optimal capital structure (Robb & Robinson, 2014). In case of Wesfarmers, the company is focused on providing a satisfactory return to its shareholders by managing its capital. Its capital structure consists of Net debt, shareholders’ equity and reserves. Source of capitalNumber in issue Price per shareMarket ValueProportion tototal longterm capital Ordinary shares2275.4102619584.82% Preference shares0000 Long Term Debt#344110344115.12% Total100% It can be observed from the below table that the debt element of the firm has reduced after 2016 along with the slightest reduction in its equity. It has a high Debt/equity ratio in 2016 at 29.16% which fall to 15.125 in 2018. Repayment of debt for working capital requirementsand
Managing finance4 monitoring the structure as per the group ratings has helped Wesfarmers to reduce its debt portion. Also when compared with the industry average of 24.50%, the ratio of the company was lower in the past years except the 2016. This reflects that Wesfarmers relies more on equity and has less financial obligations which can prove to be an attractive point for the investors. Moreover, the company uses relevant measures to manage its capital so that it can offer high returns with low financial risk (Morningstar. 2018). Capital structure of Wesfarmers (Amount in Million $) 20182017201620152014 Debt34414400669258172998 Equity2275423941229492478125987 Total capital2619528341296413059828985 Debt/equity15.12%18.38%29.16%23.47%11.54% Industry average 24.50% On the other hand, Telstra’s capital structure comprises of equal amount of debt and equity. The company’s capital has approximately 50% equity and 50% net debt. However, a fluctuating trend can be noticed in the capital structure of the firm over the past five years. It can be observed that in 2015 and 2017, the debt element of the company has increased as compare to their prior years. Talking about the recent year the ratio has declined to 98.17% as compare to 104.95% in 2017. Also it is below the industry benchmark of 116.26%. The structure reflects that Telstra rely heavily on the outside borrowings which forms major part of its net debt. Also it preserves high financial risk but is trying to reduce its debt portion. Having a ratio lower than the
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Managing finance5 benchmark reflects that company is less risky as compare to the other entities operating in the same sector (Morningstar. 2018). Capital structure of Telstra Corporation (Amount in $) 20182017201620152014 Debt1473915,28012,45913,56610,521 Equity1501414,56015,90714,51013,960 Total capital2975329840283662807624481 Debt/equity98.17% 104.95 %78.32%93.49%75.37% Industry average116.26% There are many factors which influence the capital structure of the firm such as market conditions, timing and flexibility, size of the company, cost of capital, industry benchmarks and many others. In case of Wesfarmers, the one major factor which could have influenced its overall structure is to decide the capital structure for Coles, which has been demerged. According to the report in financial review, it has been believed that net debt for Coles will be between$1.5 billion and $2.1 billion which is half of Wesfarmers’ debt. It also includes the annual lease costs and fixed charges which help in achieving the desired credit rating. The analysts assume that enterprise value for Coles will be between $16 billion and $19 billion. Such decision may have influenced the structure of the entity in the recent years (Financial Review. 2018).In case of Telstra Corporation, factors which have and could impact its capital structure is the management policies adopted by the company in respect of its capital. Its decisions regarding issuing and repayment of debt, adjustments made in amount of shareholders’ dividend, capital returns to the
Managing finance6 investors and issue of new shares are some factors which affect Telstra’s capital structure and allow the company to maintain and adjust the same. Moreover, the changes in company’s accounting policies also impact its capital structure (Telstra. 2018). Capital Structure theories Trade off theory This theory reveals how company could set up optimum capital structure theory on the basis of the cost and benefits associated with the same. It set ups relation between the financial leverage and cost of capital of company. Modigliani-miller approach The theories of capital structure, one applicable to both the firms are the Modigliani- miller approach stating the proposition II with the presence of taxes. It suggests that the value of the firm can be enhanced by using more debt and reducing the cost of capital. In a way it supports the net income approach where the increment in debt can bring an optimize capital structure for the firm. Part-B Weighted Average cost of capital Wesfarmers Limited Beta0.93 Market premium6.00% Risk free rate2.68%
Managing finance7 Cost of equity8% Finance cost211 Long term debt2965 Cost of debt7% Tax rate30% After tax cost of debt5% AmountsWeightsCost of capitalW*COC Debt34410.135.0%0.7% Equity227540.878.3%7.2% Total261951.00 WACC7.83% Telstra Corporation Beta0.53 Market premium6.00% Risk free rate2.68% Cost of equity6% Finance cost549 Long term debt15316 Cost of debt4% Tax rate30.8% After tax cost of debt2.5%
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Managing finance9 Part-C How taxes affect cost of capital. It is analyzed that the level of interest rate of company will affect the cost of debts and potentially the cost of equity. It is analyzed that when the interest rates increases then the cost of the debts increases as well. It is analyzed that if company is having good amount of profitability then it should keep higher debt portion which will not only lower down the cost of capital but also assist company to reduce the tax payment to government. The main reason of lower tax payment in case of high debt portion is related to its interest expenses. All the interest expenses of Telstra Company is deductable tax expenses. Therefore, it could be inferred that higher interest payment is the positive indicator for the future growth and low cost of capital. Part-D Computation of the discounted cash flow method DCF calculation Wesfarmers Current price44.22 Terminal Growth rate2% Growth rate assumption4.00% WACC7.83% Years 2018 (base year)201920202021 202 2 202 3
Managing finance10 FCF22652355.602449.822547.82 264 9.7 3 275 5.7 2 Discount factor0.930.860.80 0.7 4 0.6 9 Present values 2184.56339 72106.983327 2032.15 8346 195 9.9 9 189 0.3 9 Sum of present values 101 74. 1 Cash flow in 5th year (2023)2755.72 Terminal Growth in perpetuity2810.8332 Capitalization rate (Discount rate - terminal growth rate)*(1+Discount rate)^n-10.085 Present value of terminal value 33,077.4 7
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Managing finance14 Price Earnings Ratio Relative valuation method Wesfarmers RatiosCompanyIndustry Average Price/ Earnings (P/E)20.5318.85 Price/ Book Value (P/BV)2.351.83 Price/Sales Ratio (P/S)0.80.2 Return on equity (ROE)11.15%9.84% Telstra RatiosCompanyIndustry Average Price/ Earnings (P/E)10.1119.6 Price/ Book Value (P/BV)2.44.86 Price/Sales Ratio (P/S)1.394.07 Return on equity (ROE)24.10%28.65%
Managing finance15 Discounted cash flow approach undertakes the free cash flow of the company which is further used to identify the present cash value of company. Under the DCF approach, the value of investment is calculated as per its future cash flows. The present values of the FCFs are determined using a discounting rate and then the intrinsic value of the stock is calculated. If the DCF value is higher than the current value, then the opportunity should be considered. Certain assumptions are made while performing the valuation of Wesfarmers. It is assumed that the FCFs of the company will grow at 4% with the terminal growth rate of 2%. As per the calculation, the fair value of the stock is $38.17 which is lower than the current share price of $44.22. This means that the share price of Wesfarmers will fall in future. Similarly, the calculation for Telstra has been performed assuming the growth rate of 5% and having a WACC of 4.19%. The fair value of the stock appears to be $15.86 which is way more than its current stock price of $3.01. This reflects that the Telstra’s stocks are going to perform better in future and will give high returns to the investors (Damodaran, 2016). Under relative valuation method, some financial ratios are considered to value the performance of both the companies. It can be seen that Wesfarmers’ ratios are higher than its industry average but comparatively lower than Telstra. The ROE of Telstra is 24.10% while Wesfarmers has a ratio of 11.15%. Similarly the price to book value ratio of Telstra is 2.4% while it is 2.3% for Wesfarmers. Its P/S ratio is also more, however less than the industry average (Rossi & Forte, 2016). Considering the risk and return factors, metrics like standard deviation and beta are used to measure the risks of both the companies’ stocks. It is observed that both the stocks have a standard deviation of 5% (round off) which is more than the market S.D of 3.14%. This indicates that the stocks are more volatile and hence have high level of risk. Beta is another measure of
Managing finance16 systematic risk and it is said that company having high beta pursues high risk. In case of Wesfarmers and Telstra, it is seen that Telstra has a beta value of 0.53 while Wesfarmers has 0.93. This means that Telstra is comparatively less risky and volatile. Also, it is less volatile than the market. So considering all the factors, it will be suggested to invest in shares of Telstra Corporation as it is less risky and will provide high returns in future. Part-E Standard deviation is generally used by the investors to measure the risk of a stock or a portfolio. Basically it is a measure of volatility and it suggests that the stock is more volatile if it has larger standard deviation. Apart from this method, there are other measures also which are been used for measuring the risk of stock. Beta, Value at Risk and Conditional VaR are other statistical measures that are used to assess the level of risk associated with a particular stock of the company or a specific portfolio. Beta is a measure of systematic risk which determines the how much volatile a stock is in comparison to the market. It basically reflects the overall market risk which cannot be diversified. Thus, there are other methods also for calculating the risk which are better than standard deviation (Bollerslev, Xu, & Zhou, 2015). Therefore, it could be inferred that Wesfarmers and Telstra both have equal standards deviation as compared to each other. WesfarmersTelstraS&p100 Standard deviation4.49%4.48%3.14% Beta0.930.53
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Managing finance17 There is below excel work that has been done in this assignment is being embedded. Part-G Yes, consideration of other qualitative factors will definitely change the decision as it will include the review of several points which are to be considered while making an investment decisions. Factors like market conditions, industry performance, business model, corporate governance and competitive advantages can influence a decision to a great extent. Wesfarmers and Telstra, being operating in different sectors may have different circumstances in external environment which make the companies worth investing. Apart from figuring out the stock value andrisk andreturn,thecompanymayhavesomefavorablemarketconditions,suitable management style and flexible financial requirements which enhances its performance overall. So, yes it is true that qualitative factors do impact the investment decision of the user.
Managing finance18 Conclusion After assessing the data of these two companies, it could be inferred that Wesfarmers has high profitability but due to the sluggish market condition, it might face high business risk. The financial leverage and profitability of company should be stable and linked to each others. It will not only allow company to survive in sluggish market condition but also increase the overall return on capital employed. As per the investors point of view Telstra Company would give higher return as it has higher return on capital employed and business value as compared to Wesfarmers.
Managing finance20 Bollerslev, T., Xu, L., & Zhou, H. (2015). Stock return and cash flow predictability: The role of volatility risk.Journal of Econometrics,187(2), 458-471.