Assignment
Unit: Introduction to Capital Budgeting/Investment Valuation
Length: 750-1,000 words
Senario:
Apix Printing, Inc.
Apix Printing, Inc. is a private, domestic United States printer of periodicals, newspaper inserts, and advertising materials that accompany distributions of Sunday and weekday circulations of large metropolitan newspapers. The company, headed by chief executive officer (CEO) John Matthews, generates $450 million in revenues from three product lines (periodicals, inserts, and advertising) and has long-term contracts with several large U.S. retailers to produce weekly sales flyer inserts as well as metropolitan newspapers to produce Sunday magazine inserts and coupons. Its printing presses are characterized by offset print technology and are capable of high-capacity output; in addition, the company recently migrated to water-soluble inks, which considerably reduces manufacturing emissions.
The company's executive team, employees, and above all, its vice president (VP) of Production, Luke Stewart, are committed to environmentally-sustainable manufacturing practices. Presently, the only substrate Apix uses is paper, specifically newsprint of various weights. Trim and waste are recycled in accordance with the company's sustainability commitment. Manufacturing divisions are geographically aligned with customers' locations to minimize logistics costs and response time to customer requirements; however, a centralized corporate entity administers functions such as human resources, information technology, and financial reporting. The VP of sales and administration, James Simeon, oversees administration and quality compliance among the various divisions. There are presently five manufacturing divisions: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest.
Currently, Apix is only marginally profitable, and as such, the chief financial officer (CFO), Mary Francis, has indicated that external financing will be required to support a company expansion into a new segment of the printing sector: food packaging. This endeavor will require new investments in equipment as well as substrate inventory; promotional costs will also increase. In addition, Timothy Russell, the new Audit Committee Chair, has pointed out that the company's compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) will also cause administrative costs to increase. Following the requirements is paramount to successfully file a registration statement and to issue equity to shareholders in an initial public offering (IPO).
As the newly hired VP of finance, you report to the CFO. In this capacity, your responsibilities include preparation of financial statements, comparative analysis and benchmarking to sector performance, and the assessment of new business investment opportunities to grow Apix's expansion endeavors in a challenging market.
Assignment Objectives
Compare and contrast alternative valuation methodologies and explain how a firm can maximize its value.
Assess the cost of capital and marginal cost of capital and their implications for capital budgeting.
• An Individual Project requiring you to calculate Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). This will require in turn a calculation of required return on equity, which has two possible methods for estimating. Knowing which one to use will require you to attend or listen to Live Chat #3, airing Wednesday.
• The IP is due Wednesday, June 6.
• Intellipath Unit 3 - remember to try Determine Knowledge by Friday this week; complete by Tuesday.
The Lib Guide for the course will help you identify competitors. It will not give you their financials. For that you have multiple routes to the information:
• Hoover's
• Google
• Their individual corporate websites
Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas.
Mary Francis has just returned to her office after attending preliminary discussions with investment bankers. Her last meeting regarding the intended capital structure of Apix went well, and she calls you into her office to discuss the next steps.
"We will need to determine the required return for our intended project so that we have a decision criteria defined for the project," she says.
"Do you have the information I need to describe capital structure and to calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?" you ask.
"I do," she smiles. "We can determine the target WACC for Apix Printing Inc., given these assumptions," she says as she hands you a piece of paper that says the following:
Weights of 40% debt and 60% common equity (no preferred equity)
A 35% tax rate
Cost of debt is 8%
Beta of the company is 1.5
Risk-free rate is 2%
Return on the market is 11%"Great," you say. "Thanks."
"Be sure to indicate how these costs of capital might be used to determine the feasibility of the capital project," Mary says. "I want your recommendation about which is more appropriate to apply to project evaluation, too. Let me know what you think."
"One more thing," she says as she stands up to signal the end of the meeting. "You did a good job with the explanations that you provided Luke the other day. Would you have time to define marginal cost of capital for me so I can include it in my discussions with investors? You seem to have a knack for making things accessible to nonfinancial folks."
"No problem," you say. "I'm glad my explanations are so useful!"
For this assignment, complete the following:
• Describe capital structure.
• Determine the WACC given the above assumptions.
• Indicate how these might be useful to determine the feasibility of the capital project.
• Recommend which is more appropriate to apply to project evaluation.
• Define marginal cost of capital.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.