Question

You plan to invest in one of two home delivery pizza companies, High and Low, that were recently founded and are about to commence operations. They are identical except for their use of debt (wd) and the interest rates on their debt--High uses more debt and thus must pay a higher interest rate. Based on the data given below, how much higher or lower will High's expected EPS be versus that of Low, i.e., what is EPSHigh - EPSLow?
Applicable to Both Firms Firm High's Data Firm Low's Data Capital $3,000,000 wd 70% wd 20%EBIT $500,000 Shares 90,000 Shares 240,000Tax rate 35% Int. rate 12% Int. rate 10%

Answer 1

Answer:

$0.60

Explanation:

Computation of Firm High's EPS

Profit before Tax (PBT) = EBIT - Interest on debt

= 500,000 - (12% * (70% * 3,000,000)) (Firm High's use of debt is 70%)

= 500,000 - (12%*2,100,000)

= 248,000

Earnings = PBT - tax = 248,000 - (35% * 248,000)

= 161,200

Given 90,000 shares, the EPS = 161,200/90,000 = $1.79.

Computation of Firm Low's EPS

Profit before Tax (PBT) = EBIT - Interest on debt

= 500,000 - (10% * (20% * 3,000,000)) (Firm Low's use of debt is 20%)

= 500,000 - (10%*600,000)

= 440,000

Earnings = PBT - tax = 440,000 - (35% * 440,000)

= 286,000

Given 240,000 shares, the EPS = 286,000/240,000 = $1.19.

Therefore, EPSHigh - EPSLow = 1.79 - 1.19 = $0.60.