In Example 5-1, we calculated residual income based on net income and a charge for the cost
of equity capital. Analysts will also encounter another approach to calculating residual income that yields the same results. In this second approach, which takes the perspective of all providers
of capital (both debt and equity), we subtract a capital charge (the company’s total cost of
capital in money terms) from the company’s after-tax operating profit. In the case of AXCI in
Example 5-1, net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT) is ¤140,000 (¤200,000 less 30 percent
taxes). AXCI’s after-tax weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) is 8.45 percent, computed
as 50 percent (capital structure weight of equity) times the cost of equity of 12 percent plus
50 percent (capital structure weight of debt) times the after-tax cost of debt, 4.9 percent.7
The capital charge is ¤169,000 (= 8.45% × ¤2,000,000), which is higher than its after-tax
operating profit of ¤140,000 by ¤29,000, the same figure obtained in Example 5-1. That the
company is not profitable in an economic sense can also be seen by comparing the company’s
WACC, 8.45 percent, with after-tax operating profits as a percent of total assets (the after-tax
net operating return on total assets or capital). The after-tax net operating return on total assets
is ¤140,000/¤2,000,000 = 7 percent, which is less than WACC by 1.45 percentage points.8
We can illustrate the impact of residual income on equity valuation using the case of
AXCI presented in Example 5-1. Assume the following: