AI Hansen, the newly appointed vice
president of finance of Berkshire Instruments,
was eager to talk to his investment
banker about future financing for the firm.
One of AI's first assignments was to
determine the firn1's cost of capital. In
assessing the weights to use in computing
the cost of capital, he examined the current
balance sheet, presented in Figure I.
In their discussion, AI and his investment
bal1kcr determined that the current mix in
the capital structure was ver:-' close to
optimal and that Berkshire Instruments
should continue with it in the future. Of
some concern was the appropriate cost to
assign to each of the elements in the capital
structure. AI Hansen requested that his
administrative assistant provide data on
what the cost ot issue debt and preferred
stock had been in the past. T11e information
is provided in Figure 2.
When AI got the data, he felt he was
making real progress toward determining the
cost of capital for the firm. However, his
investment banker indicated that he was
going about the process in an incorrect
manner. The important issue is the current
cost of funds, not the historical cost. T11e
banker suggested that a comparable firm in
the industr:-', in terms of size and bond rating
(Baa), Rollins Instruments, had issued bonds
a year and a half ago for 9.3 percent interest
at a $1,000 par value, and the bonds were
currently selling for $890. The bonds had 20
years remaining to maturity. 111e banker also
observed that Rollings Instruments had just
issued preferred stock at $60 per share, and
the preferred stock paid an annual dividend
of $4.80.
In terms of cost of common equity, the
banker suggested that AI Hansen use the
dividend valuation model as a first approach
to determining cost of equity. Based on that
approach, AI observed that earnings were $3
a share and that 40 percent would be paid
out in dividends (Dl). The current stock
price was $25. Dividends in the last four
years had grown from 82 cents to the current
value.