Bankruptcy Cost:
The debt brings with it future cash flow commitment in the form principle borrowed and periodic interest which increases the potential risk of firms default and bankruptcy. (Ebaid, 2009). Modgliani and Miller in their analysis had proved that firm can lower their cost of capital by increment of leverage in their capital structure. However considerable use of debt financing would expose business to high probabilities of default (Khan and Jain, 2005).Not only this, the firms will also find it demanding to meet the promised principles and interest. Furthermore, the firm is likely to incur costs and suffer penalties if it is not able to pay the interest and principles on time. This may result in legal outlays, interruptions in the operation and likely loss of profitable investment opportunities. As the proportion of debt in the capital structure increases, so does the probability of sustaining these costs. Thus redundant use of debt may lead to rise in cost of capital owing to the financial risk which in turn may reduce the value of the firm. This risk arising due to excessive use of debt is known as bankruptcy. Undoubtedly, the optimal capital structure is not the one having maximum debt but the capital structure having desired amount of debt which is determined at a point where the overall cost of capital is minimum. Modgliani and Miller in their studies have shown that extreme gearing increases financial risk along with the cost of capital. They advised the firms to adopt ‘target debt ratio’ so as not to violate limits of gearing imposed by the creditors (Khan and Jain, 2005). The advice implies that there is certain safe limit for the use of debt beyond which debt should not be used. The point also indicates optim...
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...oss of financially flexibility:
Retaining the financial flexibility is a strong concern of the creditors. The creditors are aware that a choice made today can limit their possibilities for another choice in the future (Vernimmen, 2005). Thus the debt taken today adds pressure on future investments. In future suppose a major investment is required and the borrowing capacity has been used up, then there would be a requirement of generating fresh equity. Thus loss of flexibility can be disastrous if funds are needed and access to capital is shut off (Damodaran, 2012). Thus it is very important to maintain high financial reserves when a firm has lots of investment opportunities. “Therefore it can be said that a sharp increase in debt reduces the company’s financial flexibility, whereas a capital increase augments its borrowing capacity” (Vernimmen, 2005, p.686).
Net working capital represents organization’s operating liquidity. In order to compute the net working capital, total current assets are divided from total current liabilities. When there is sufficient excess of current assets over current liabilities, an organization might be considered sufficiently liquid. Another ratio that helps in assessing the operating liquidity of as company is a current ratio. The ratio is calculated by dividing the total current assets over total current liabilities. When the current ratio is high, the organization has enough of current assets to pay for the liabilities. Yet, another mean of calculating the organization’s debt-paying ability is the debt ratio. To calculate the ratio, total liabilities are divided by total assets. The computation gives information on what proportion of organization’s assets is financed by a debt, and what is the entity’s ability to pay for current and long term liabilities. Lower debt ratio is better, because the low liabilities require low debt payments. To be able to lend money, an organization’s current ratio has to fall above a certain level, also the debt ratio cannot rise above a certain threshold. Otherwise, the entity will not be able to lend money or will have to pay high penalties. The following steps can be undertaken by a company to keep the debt ratio within normal
DuPont has been known for its low reliance on borrowings. In the 1970’s, the company had to assume a substantial portion of debt of Conoco, a newly acquired company. In 1983, the managers have to decide about the future optimal target debt ratio. Should the company continue to keep about 40% of its assets financed via debt or should it strive to lower its borrowings to 25%?
The consistent high spending of capital equipment is the first reason why one would recommend reducing the debt to equity ratio. A company with higher levels of debt is less flexible in being able to adjust to new market demands and conditions that require the company to make new products or respond to competition. Looking at the pecking order of financing, issuing new shares to fund capital investing is the last resort and a company that has high levels of debt, must move to the equity side to avoid the risk of bankruptcy. Defaulting on loans occur when increased costs or bad economic conditions lead the firm to have lower net income than the payments on loans. The risk of defaulting on loans and the direct and indirect cost related to defaulting lead firms to prefer lower levels of debt. The financial distress caused by additional leverage can lead to lower cash flows available to all investors, lower than if the firm was financed by equity only. Additionally, the high debt ratio that Du Pont incurred also led to them dropping from a AAA bond rating to a AA bond Rating. Although the likelihood of not being able to acquire loans would be minimal, there are increased interest costs with having a lower bond rating. The lower bond rating signals to investors that the firm is more likely to default than if it had a higher (AAA) bond rating.
The high-risk, cyclical nature of our business demands a strong financial base. We must retain the capital resources to meet our current commitments and make substantial investments to develop new products and new technology for the future. This objective also requires contingency planning and
Modigliani & Miller applied their theories with two modules, one which doesn’t include the taxes and this is their first finding, and another one with taxes to make it more realistic. The First Proposition without taxes: In this part Modigliani & Miller stated that the firm’s value is not affected by the structure of the capital between Equity and Debt, They proved this by having an example of two firms that have got the same conditions in everything, same cash flow, same operational risks and same opportunity costs. One of the firm’s capital structure is all equity and the other firm’s capital structure is a mixture between equity and debt, since the form of financing (debt or equity) can neither change the firm’s net operating income nor its operating risk, the values of levered and unlevered firms will be the same. They have concluded that the value of the levered firm = the value of the unlevered firm, only if they have the same conditions, same risk levels, cash and opportunity cost.
With the economy going today some, if not many, businesses are going under, being liquidated, or going out of business. But how do big or small business end their enterprises? Or even allocate any resources they have to repay any debt? What procedures does a company go through to let their lenders know they have no income or sales/revenue to pay off the bills? Questions like this spark my interest to get a better understanding of how do businesses like Ashley Furniture or General Motors (GM) use their assets to attempt to pay off their creditors and any other liabilities. But what does bankruptcy mean in the business world? What are some of the paths of bankruptcy? What are the pros and cons of being bankrupt?
Thesis: Businesses deem financing necessary when they are just beginning, expanding, or recovering; Debt financing and equity financing have many advantages and disadvantages but also change the entire accounting method that is to be considered while running the business. Debt financing has both advantages and disadvantages. Debt financing is a business’ way to start up, expand, or recover by borrowing money from a person or company. The money borrowed has to be paid back along with the interest that was accrued during the length of time the loan was carried out. This option is great for company’s that do not want investors.
Bankruptcy as a financial management is a legitimate proceeding involving a person or business that cant repay outstanding debts. The general meaning of bankruptcy is the point at which somebody has credit debt that they are making payments on and can no more make those installment because of occupation misfortune, market investment losses or any kind of income loss that prevents them to make their installments schedule. At the point when a person can no more make these payment they seek for a financial company that specializes in bankruptcy. This firm will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the credit company and if that does not work will file for bankruptcy. There are structures to fill out which include one’s income, tax returns and
Among the study’s findings were that the deciding factor of the predictor of bankruptcy should not be only a few ratios, as the measure of a company’s financial solvency may differ as the firm’s situations differ. The important question is to which ratios are to be used and of those ratios chosen, which ratios are given priority weight.
But, at the same time, investment is an addition to the capital equipment, and right from birth it competes with the older generation of this equipment. The tragedy of investment is that it calls forth the crisis because it is useful’.
One of the key areas of long-term decision-making that firms must tackle is that of investment - the need to commit funds by purchasing land, buildings, machinery, etc., in anticipation of being able to earn an income greater than the funds committed. In order to handle these decisions, firms have to make an assessment of the size of the outflows and inflows of funds, the lifespan of the investment, the degree of risk attached and the cost of obtaining funds.
Access to capital and credit at various stages in the business life cycle is identified as the major hurdle by the entrepreneurs. For many small firms and most start-ups, the personal funds of the business owners and entrepreneur and those of relatives and acquaintances constitute as the major source of capital. For many small businesses, especially during the early years of their operation, credit is simply not available. For many others, the limited available credit is not through bank loans. Due to this many of them rely on multiple credit card balances and home equity loans as major sources of credit for start-up firm. Because banks are bound by laws and regulations to prudent lending standards that require them a risk management assessment for each loan made. These regulations were made more vigor during the late 1980'' and early 1990 . Banks always found that lending to manufacturing firm with hard asset such as property, equipment, and inventory has always been easier than lending to today's expanding service sector firms. Because the service sector firms own few hard asses, therefor lending judgment have to be based in terms of character, markets, and cashflow, which make it difficult to the bank to meet the regulations for the approval of the loan. Additional, the banking industry, as well as the entire financial sector of the
Maintaining a company’s financial assets is a daunting task. Cash management techniques and short-term financing provide accounting executives with the tools needed to survive the constant changes within the economy. The combination of these tools and the knowledge of the world economy will assist companies in maintaining current assets and facilitates growth.
Debt financing is also borrowing against future earnings. This means that instead of using all future profits to grow the business or to pay owners, you have to allocate a portion to debt payments. Overuse of debt can severely limit future cash flow and stifle growth. Debt is a bet on your future ability to pay back the loan. What if your company hits hard times or the economy, once again, experiences a meltdown?
Sources of finance are the different methods for a business to earn and obtain money. There are lots of ways to obtain money but two large basic sources of finance, which are the “owner’s capital” and “capital borrowed”. They are also called internal sources of finance and external sources of finance. In those sources, they are mainly divided in two groups, which are short-term sources of finance and long-term sources of finance.