Bernice Mountaindog was glad to be back at Sea Shore Salt. Employees were treated well. When she had asked a year ago for a leave of absence to complete her degree in finance, top management promptly agreed. When she returned with an honors degree, she was promoted from administrative assistant (she had been secretary to Joe-Bob Brinepool, the president) to treasury analyst.

Bernice thought the companys prospects were good. Sure, table salt was a mature business, but Sea Shore Salt had grown steadily at the expense of its less-well-known competitors. The companys brand name was an important advantage, despite the difficulty most customers had in pronouncing it rapidly.

Bernice started work on January 2, 2018. The first 2 weeks went smoothly. Then Mr. Brinepools cost of capital memo (see Figure 13.2) assigned her to explain Sea Shore Salts weighted-average cost of capital to other managers. The memo came as a surprise to Bernice, so she stayed late to prepare for the questions that would surely come the next day.

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FIGURE 13.2 Mr. Brinepools cost of capital memo

Bernice first examined Sea Shore Salts most recent balance sheet, summarized in Table 13.6. Then she jotted down the following additional points:

• The companys bank charged interest at current market rates, and the long-term debt had just been issued. Book and market values could not differ by much.

• But the preferred stock had been issued 35 years ago, when interest rates were much lower. The preferred stock, originally issued at a book value of $100 per share, was now trading for only $70 per share.

• The common stock traded for $40 per share. Next years earnings per share would be about $4 and dividends per share probably $2. (Ten million shares of common stock are outstanding.) Sea Shore Salt had traditionally paid out 50% of earnings as dividends and plowed back the rest.

• Earnings and dividends had grown steadily at 6% to 7% per year, in line with the companys sustainable growth rate:

  Sustainable growth rate=return on equity plowback ratio= 4/30 .5=.067, or 6.7%

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Table 13.6

Sea Shore Salts balance sheet, taken from the companys 2017 balance sheet (figures in $millions)

Assets Liabilities and Net Worth Working capital $200 Bank loan $120 Plant and equipment 360 Long-term debt 80 Other assets 40 Preferred stock 100 Common stock, including retained earnings 300 Total $600 Total $600

Notes: 1. At year-end 2017, Sea Shore Salt had 10 million common shares outstanding. 2. The company had also issued 1 million preferred shares with book value of $100 per share. Each share receives an annual dividend of $6.

Sea Shore Salts beta had averaged about .5, which made sense, Bernice thought, for a stable, steady-growth business. She made a quick cost of equity calculation by using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). With current interest rates of about 7%, and a market risk premium of 7%,

CAPM cost of equity =rE=rf+(rmrf)= 7% +.5(7%) = 10.5%

This cost of equity was significantly less than the 16% decreed in Mr. Brinepools memo. Bernice scanned her notes apprehensively. What if Mr. Brinepools cost of equity was wrong? Was there some other way to estimate the cost of equity as a check on the CAPM calculation? Could there be other errors in his calculations?

Bernice resolved to complete her analysis that night. If necessary, she would try to speak with Mr. Brinepool when he arrived at his office the next morning. Her job was not just finding the right number. She also had to figure out how to explain it all to Mr. Brinepool.