Chapter 07: Bonds and Their Valuation
71. Listed below are some provisions that are often contained in bond indentures. Which of these provisions, viewed
alone, would tend to reduce the yield to maturity that investors would otherwise require on a newly issued bond?
1. Fixed assets are used as security for a bond.
2. A given bond is subordinated to other classes of debt.
3. The bond can be converted into the firm’s common stock.
4. The bond has a sinking fund.
5. The bond has a call provision.
6. The indenture contains covenants that restrict the use of additional debt.
FOFM.BRIG.17.07.08 – Default Risk
United States – BUSPROG.FOFM.BRIG.17.03 – BUSPROG: Analytic
United States – OH – DISC.FOFM.BRIG.17.01 – Stocks and bonds
72. Suppose a new company decides to raise a total of $200 million, with $100 million as common equity and $100
million as long-term debt. The debt can be mortgage bonds or debentures, but by an iron-clad provision in its charter, the
company can never raise any additional debt beyond the original $100 million. Given these conditions, which of the
following statements is CORRECT?
The higher the percentage of debt represented by mortgage bonds, the riskier both types of bonds will be and,
consequently, the higher the firm’s total dollar interest charges will be.
If the debt were raised by issuing $50 million of debentures and $50 million of first mortgage bonds, we could
be certain that the firm’s total interest expense would be lower than if the debt were raised by issuing $100
million of debentures.
In this situation, we cannot tell for sure how, or even whether, the firm’s total interest expense on the $100
million of debt would be affected by the mix of debentures versus first mortgage bonds. The interest rate on
each type of bond would increase as the percentage of mortgage bonds used was increased, but the average
cost might well be such that the firm’s total interest charges would not be affected materially by the mix
between the two.
The higher the percentage of debentures, the greater the risk borne by each debenture, and thus the higher the
required rate of return on the debentures.
If the debt were raised by issuing $50 million of debentures and $50 million of first mortgage bonds, we could
be certain that the firm’s total interest expense would be lower than if the debt were raised by issuing $100
million of first mortgage bonds.
6/23/2015 3:25 PM
6/23/2015 3:25 PM