In 1995, the company went public and its initial public offering was very successful. The stock price had risen from its initial value of $10 to its current level of $25 per share. There were currently 5 million shares outstanding. In 1997, the company issued 30-year bonds at par, with a face value of $1000 and a coupon rate of 10% per year, and managed to raise $40 million for expansion. Currently, the AA-rated bonds had 25 years left until maturity and were being quoted at 97.5% of par.
Over the past year, Oceantech utilized a new method for fabricating composite materials that the firm had developed. In June of last year, management established the Advanced Materials Group (AM Group), which was dedicated to pursuing this technology. The firm recruited Howard Sloan, a senior engineer, to head the AM Group. Howard also had an MBA from a prestigious university under his belt.
Upon joining Oceantech, Howard realized that most projects were being approved on a "gut feel" approach. There were no formal acceptance criteria in place. Up until then, the company had been lucky in that most of its projects had been well selected and it had benefited from good relationships with clients and suppliers. "This has to change," said Howard to his assistant Roseanne, "we can't possibly be this lucky forever. We need to calculate the firm's hurdle rate and use it in future." Roseanne Keane, who had great admiration for her boss replied, "Yes, Howard, why don't I crunch out the numbers and give them to you within the next couple of days?" " That sounds great, Roseanne," said Howard, "This should have been done a long time ago, but as most things go it's better late than never!"
. Calculate the firm's average cost of retained earnings.
7. Can flotation costs be ignored in the analysis? Explain.
8. How should Roseanne calculate the firm's hurdle rate? Calculate it and explain the various steps.
9. Can Howard assume that the hurdle rate calculated Roseanne would remain constant? Please explain