Calculating the WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital) is an important financial analysis technique that helps businesses evaluate the expected return on an investment, and it’s an speisential component of financial decision-making. The WACC represents the average cost of all the capital used by a company to finance its operations, including both debt and equity.
To calculate the WACC, you will need to follow a few steps:
Step 1: Decide the company’s capital structure The first step in calculating WACC is to determine the company’s capital structure. The capital structure is a composition of all the sources of capital the company uses to finance its operations, such as equity, debt, and preferred stock. You will need to obtain information on the market value of each type of capital used by the company.
Step 2: Decide the cost of each component of the capital structure The cost of capital refers to the return expected by investors for providing their capital to the company. To calculate the cost of equity, you can use the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which takes into account the risk-free rate, the equity market risk premium, and the company’s beta. The cost of debt can be calculated by taking the average interest rate the company pays on its outstanding debt.
Step 3: Calculate the weighted average cost of capital The final step is to calculate the weighted average cost of capital. This is done by weighting the cost of each component by its proportion in the capital structure. The formula for WACC is as follows:
WACC = (E/V x Re) + (D/V x Rd) x (1 – Tc)
where: E = market value of the company’s equity
D = market value of the company’s debt
V = total market value of the company (E + D)
Re = cost of equity
Rd = cost of debt
Tc = corporate tax rate
Here is an example of how to calculate WACC using hypothetical numbers for a company:
Assume a company has a market capitalization of $100 million, with $50 million in debt and $50 million in equity. The cost of equity is 12%, the cost of debt is 5%, and the corporate tax rate is 21%.
V = $100 million (equity) + $50 million (debt) = $150 million
E/V = $100 million / $150 million = 0.6667
D/V = $50 million / $150 million = 0.3333
Re = 12%
Rd = 5%
Tc = 21%
WACC = (0.6667 x 12%) + (0.3333 x 5%) x (1 – 21%) = 8.62%
In this example, the WACC is 8.62%, meaning that the company must earn at least this amount on each dollar of capital invested to maintain its current capital structure.
In conclusion, calculating WACC is an important financial analysis technique that helps businesses evaluate the expected return on an investment. It allows businesses to determine the cost of capital and the expected return on investments, which is speisential in making informed financial decisions. By following the steps outlined above, you can calculate the WACC for your company and make informed investment decisions.