Community Bank is faced with the decision of whether or not to
open a new branch. The current market value of the bank is
$2,500,000. According to company policy (and industry practice),
the bank’s capital structure is highly leveraged. The present (and
optimal) ratio of debt to total assets is 0.9. Community Bank’s
debt is almost exclusively in the form of demand, savings, and time
deposits. The average return on these deposits to the bank’s
clients has been 5% over the past five years. However, recently
interest rates have climbed sharply, and as a result Community Bank
presently pays an average annual rate of 6.25 % on its accounts in
order to remain competitive. In addition, the bank incurs a service
cost of 2.75 % per account. Because federal “Regulation Q” puts a
ceiling on the amount of interest paid by banks on their accounts,
the banking industry at large has been experiencing
disintermediation – a loss of clients to the open money market
(Treasury bills, etc.), where interest rates are higher. Largely
because of the interest-rate situation (which shows no sign of
improving), Community Bank’s president has stipulated that the
branch project will be financed with 90% debt. Its cost of
RM500,000 will have to be raised by an issue of new equity. The
bank’s cost of equity capital, ke, is 11%. Community Bank’s
marginal tax rate is .48. Market analysis indicates that the new
branch may be expected to return net cash flows according to the
following schedule:
Year 0
1 2 3 4 5 to year 20
RM -500,000 25,000 35,000 45,000 45,000 50,000
(I) Should Community Bank open the new branch?.
(II) If the costs escalate to RM1.5 million, should Community
bank open the new branch?
(III) If cost of equity capital increases to 18%, should
Community bank open the new branch?