Chapter 17 Financial Planning and Control 365
35. If any firm with a positive net worth is operating its fixed assets at full capacity, if its dividend
payout ratio is 100 percent, and if it wants to hold all financial ratios constant, then for any
positive growth rate in sales, the firm will require external financing.
36. Breakeven analysis can involve determining the magnitude of the firm’s profit or losses at output
levels on and around the point where revenues equal costs.
37. The operating breakeven volume in units can be found by dividing the firm’s total fixed cost in
dollars by its profit margin per unit (i.e., price less variable cost).
38. One potential benefit of high operating leverage is that it can reduce the average cost per unit at
high levels of output, thus generating a competitive cost advantage.
39. The firm’s cost-volume-profit relationship is most influenced by variable cost and, thus, the level
of fixed or operating costs plays a relatively minor role.
40. Other things held constant, a high degree of operating leverage will mean that a relatively small
change in sales will result in a large change in operating income.
41. If firm A uses more operating leverage than firm B, firm A will probably have a greater
percentage profit margin per unit than firm B, if both firms are otherwise identical and operating
above their respective operating breakeven levels.
42. Suppose a firm uses a high degree of operating leverage and operates in an industry whose sales
are greatly affected by changes in the overall level of economic activity. The riskiness of that
firm’s earnings stream will likely be greater than the earnings of a firm in the same industry which
has a lower degree of operating leverage.
43. The higher the DOL, the greater the firm’s use of debt and the more earnings will change
following a change in sales.
44. A high degree of operating leverage, other things held constant, means that a relatively small
change in unit sales will result in a large change in operating income.
45. It is more difficult to estimate fixed and variable cost per unit for a project during planning than
once the project is underway. This is because, once a project is operational, the firm has access to
clearly reported and separated actual costs that the project incurs.