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Explain the meaning of the term 'cost of capital' and explain why a company should calculate its cost of capital with care.

      

Explain the meaning of the term 'cost of capital' and explain why a company should
calculate its cost of capital with care.

  

Answers


Martin
Cost of capital
- This is the rate used to discount the future cash flows of a business, to
determine the value of the firm. The cost of capital can be viewed as the
minimum return required by investors and should be used when evaluating
investment proposals.

-In order to maximize the wealth of shareholders, the basic decision rule is that
if cash flows relating to an investment proposal are negative, the proposal
should be rejected. However, if the discounted cash flows are positive, the
proposal should be accepted. The discounting is carried out using the
firm's cost of capital.

Why cost capital should be calculated with care:

- Failure to calculate the cost of capital correctly can in incorrect investment
decisions being made.

- Where the cost of capital is understated, investment proposals which should be
rejected may be accepted.

- Similarly, where the cost of capital is overstated, investment proposals may be
rejected which should be accepted. In both cases, the shareholders would suffer
a loss.
Note There is an inverse relationship between N.P.V. and cost of capital. The higher the
cost of capital, the lower the N.P.V. and vice versa.
marto answered the question on February 11, 2019 at 10:37


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