Question 2 (8 points)
At the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, Microsoft reported
common equity of $64.9 billion on its balance sheet, with $49.0 billion invested in
financial assets (in the form of cash equivalents and short term investments) and no
financing debt. For fiscal year 2004, the firm reported $7.4 billion in
comprehensive income, of which $1.1 billion was after-tax earnings on the
financial assets.
This month Microsoft is distributing $34 billion of financial assets to
shareholders in the form of a special dividend.
a. Calculate Microsoft’s return on common equity (ROCE) for 2004.
b. Holding all else constant what would Microsoft’s ROCE be after the
payout of $34 billion?