Exam 9: Corporate Valuation and Financial Planning

F. Marston, Inc. has developed a forecasting model to estimate its AFN for the upcoming year. All else being equal, which of the following factors is most likely to lead to an increase of the additional funds needed (AFN)?

Spontaneous funds are generally defined as follows:

North Construction had $850 million of sales last year, and it had $425 million of fixed assets that were used at only 60% of capacity. What is the maximum sales growth rate North could achieve before it had to increase its fixed assets?

Last year National Aeronautics had a FA/Sales ratio of 40%, comprised of $250 million of sales and $100 million of fixed assets. However, its fixed assets were used at only 75% of capacity. Now the company is developing its financial forecast for the coming year. As part of that process, the company wants to set its target Fixed Assets/Sales ratio at the level it would have had had it been operating at full capacity. What target FA/Sales ratio should the company set?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Last year Baron Enterprises had $350 million of sales, and it had $270 million of fixed assets that were used at 65% of capacity last year. In millions, by how much could Baron's sales increase before it is required to increase its fixed assets?

A firm will use spontaneous funds to the extent possible; however, due to credit terms, contracts with workers, and tax laws there is little flexibility in their usage.

One of the necessary steps in the financial planning process is a forecast of financial statements under each alternative version of the operating plan in order to analyze the effects of different operating procedures on projected profits and financial ratios.

A company expects sales to increase during the coming year, and it is using the AFN equation to forecast the additional capital that it must raise. Which of the following conditions would cause the AFN to increase?

A firm's profit margin is 5%, its debt/assets ratio is 56%, and its dividend payout ratio is 40%. If the firm is operating at less than full capacity, then sales could increase to some extent without the need for external funds, but if it is operating at full capacity with respect to all assets, including fixed assets, then any positive growth in sales will require some external financing.

The Besnier Company had $250 million of sales last year, and it had $75 million of fixed assets that were being operated at 80% of capacity. In millions, how large could sales have been if the company had operated at full capacity?

If a firm with a positive net worth is operating its fixed assets at full capacity, if its dividend payout ratio is 100%, and if it wants to hold all financial ratios constant, then for any positive growth rate in sales, it will require external financing.

Judd Enterprises These are the simplified financial statements for Judd Enterprises. Income statement CurrentProjected Sales na 1,000 Costs na 700 Profit before tax na 300 Taxes na 90 Net income na 210 Dividends na 63 Balance sheets Current Projected Current Projected Current assets 100 115 Current liabilities 70 81 900 1,080 Long-term debt 400 Common stock 300 Retained earnings 230 -Refer to the Judd Enterprises financial statements. What is Judd's projected retained earnings under this planσ

If Decker had a financing surplus, it could remedy the situation by

The capital intensity ratio is the amount of assets required per dollar of sales and it has a major impact on a firm's capital requirements.

The minimum growth rate that a firm can achieve with no access to external capital is called the firm's sustainable growth rate. It can be calculated by using the AFN equation with AFN equal to zero and solving for g.

If a firm wants to maintain its ratios at their existing levels, then if it has a positive sales growth rate of any amount, it will require some amount of external funding.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

The term "additional funds needed (AFN)" is generally defined as follows:

Firms pay a low interest rate on spontaneous liabilities so these funds are its cheapest source of capital. Consequently, the firm should make arrangements with its suppliers to use as much of this credit as possible.