RETURN ON EQUITY Central City Construction (CCC) needs $1 million of assets to get started, and it expects to have a basic earning power ratio of 20%. CCC will own no securities, so all of its income will be operating income. If it so chooses, CCC can finance up to 50% of its assets with debt, which will have an 8% interest rate. If it chooses to use debt, the firm will finance using only debt and common equity, so no preferred stock will be used. Assuming a 40% tax rate on all taxable income, what is the difference between CCC’s expected ROE if it finances these assets with 50% debt versus its expected ROE if it finances these assets entirely with common stock?

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