Answer:
The WACC of the firm is 11.91%
Explanation:
The WACC or weighted average cost of capital is the rate of return that a business is expected to pay to all of its security holders- bonds, common stock, preferred stock- or is the cost of capital for the business.
To calculate the WACC, we use the following formula,
WACC = D/A * (1-tax rate) * rD + E/A * rE
Where,
- D/A and E/A is the weightage of debt and assets as a proportion of total assets
- rD * (1-tax rate) is the after tax cost of debt
- rE is the cost of equity or required rate of return on equity
We first need to calculate the required rate of return on equity (r). We will use the CAPM formula for r.
r = 0.034 + 1.37 * 0.082
r = 0.14634 or 14.634%
The total assets are equal to,
Assets = Debt + Equity
If for every $1 of equity, there is $0.45 of debt as given by debt-equity ratio.
Then,
Assets = 0.45 + 1
Assets = $1.45
WACC = 0.45/1.45 * (1-0.23) * 0.076 + 1/1.45 * 0.14634
WACC = 0.11908 or 11.908% rounded off to 11.91%
