Consider a firm with a debt-equity ratio of 0.40. The required rate of return on this firm’s unlevered equity is 18% and the pre-tax cost of debt is 8%. Sales, which totalled $34 million last year, are projected to remain at that level for the foreseeable future. Variable costs comprise 52% of sales, while fixed costs are $5,000,000. The corporate tax rate is 35% and all earnings are distributed as dividends to shareholders at the end of each year. Based on the above information, answer the following questions:
What is the value of the firm if it carried no debt? and
What is the value of the firm’s equity if the FTE method is used?