76.
Del Grasso Fruit Company has more positive NPV projects than it can finance under its current policies without
issuing new stock, but its board of directors had decreed that it cannot issue any new shares in the foreseeable
future. Your boss, the CFO, wants to know how the capital budget would be affected by changes in capital
structure policy and/or the target dividend payout policy. You obtained the following data, which shows the firm’s
projected net income (NI), its current capital structure and dividend payout policies, and three possible new
policies. Projected net income for the coming year will not be affected by a policy change. How much larger
could the capital budget be if (1) the target de ratio were raised to the indicated amount, other things held
constant, (2) the target payout ratio were lowered to the indicated amount, other things held constant, or (3) the
debt ratio and dividend payout were both changed by the indicated amounts?
Current Policy Changes
Policy Increase Debt Lower Payout Do Both
Projected NI $175.0 $175.0 $175.0 $175.0
% Debt 25.0% 75.0% 25.0% 75.0%
% Equity 75.0% 25.0% 75.0% 25.0%
% Payout 65.0% 65.0% 20.0% 20.0%
a. $133.0; $ 85.5; $389.6
b. $140.0; $ 90.0; $410.1
c. $147.4; $ 94.8; $431.7
d. $155.2; $ 99.8; $454.4
e. $163.3; $105.0; $478.3