Reliable Gearing currently is all-equity-financed. It has 18,000 shares of equity outstanding, selling at $100 a share. The firm is considering a capital restructuring. The low-debt plan calls for a debt issue of $340,000 with the proceeds used to buy back stock. The high-debt plan would exchange $500,000 of debt for equity. The debt will pay an interest rate of 10.8%. The firm pays no taxes.

a.	What will be the debt-to-equity ratio after each contemplated restructuring? (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

	Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Low-debt plan
High-debt plan

b-1.	If earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will be either $130,000 or $190,000, what will be earnings per share for each financing mix for both possible values of EBIT? (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

	Earnings Per Share
EBIT	Low-Debt Plan	High-Debt Plan
$130,000	$	$
$190,000

b-2.	If both scenarios are equally likely, what is expected (i.e., average) EPS under each financing mix? (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

	Earnings Per Share
Low-debt plan	$
High-debt plan

b-3.

Is the high-debt mix preferable?

	No
	Yes

c.	Suppose that EBIT is $194,400. What is EPS under each financing mix? (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

	Earnings Per Share
Low-debt plan	$
High-debt plan