Probability of dividend

Question

Universal Corporation has the following dividend policy: if the earnings after taxes are less than $1 million, the dividend payout ratio will be 35%, but if these earnings are over $1 million, the dividend payout ratio will be 45%. The EBIT of Universal for next year is expected to be $10 million with a standard deviation of $4 million. Universal has $30 million in long-term bonds with coupon of 9%, and 1.5 million shares of common stock. Calculate the probability that Universal will give a dividend of more than $1 per share. The tax rate of Universal is 30%.

Answer 1

From the given details,

Since earnings after taxes are well above $1 million, the dividend payout ratio will be 45%. Hence if a dividend of $1/share is given, the EPS will be

0.45 = 1/EPS
EPS = 1/0.45 = 2.22

Hence profit after taxes = 2.22*1.5 million = 3.33 million

Profit before taxes = 4.76 million
EBIT = $7.462 million

In order to determine the probability,

Z = (7.462 – 10)/4 = -0.635
P(z) = 73.71%

Thus the probability that Universal will give a dividend of more than $1 per share is 73.71%.