Log in
Finance
1
answer
0
watching
180
views
8 Nov 2018

Please provide steps and asnwer to the following question in the Business Analytics Data Analysis and Decision Making 5th Edition by Albright & Winston. Page 333. Conceptual Question 5:

Provide an example of when you might want to take a stratified random sample instead of a simple random sample, and explain what the advantages of a stratified sample might be.

Watch
1
answer
0
watching
180
views

For unlimited access to Homework Help, a Homework+ subscription is required.

Sixta Kovacek
Sixta KovacekLv2
9 Nov 2018

Unlock all answers

Get 1 free homework help answer.
Already have an account? Log in
Share

Related questions

You are the senior financial analyst for Fosbeck Generic Drug Co (Fosbeck). The firm manufactures and sells generic over-the-counter drugs in plants located throughout the country. You have been asked to generate some answers to questions emanating from the Board of Directors. These questions can be grouped into two broad categories – what projects to choose for the near future and how to finance these projects.

Deliverable:

Please present your recommendations in a report written for your supervisor, the firm Controller. Clearly show your analysis and communicate your conclusions and recommendations. Support your report by calculations in the Excel spreadsheets. In your report, explain the results of each portion of your analysis (represented by the tabs on the Excel template). Submit all the completed Excel worksheets with the completed responses to the questions posed to support your report and recommendation.

Steps to Completion:

Individual Project Analysis

Your first task is to analyze the company’s three projects and provide your recommendations about their implementation.

Automation project

One of Fosbeck’s plants is trying to decide whether to automate its drug manufacturing by purchasing a fully automated bioreactor machine complex.

The proposed machine costs $400 M and it will have a five year anticipated life and will be depreciated by using the 3-year MACRS depreciation method toward a zero salvage value. (MACRS depreciation rates are: Year 1: 33%, Year 2: 45%, Year 3: 15% and Year 4: 7%) However, the plant will be able to sell the machine in the after-market for 25% of its original costs at the end of year 5. The firm estimates that the installation of the bioreactor will bring annual costs savings of $50 M from reduced labor costs, $10 M per year from reduced waste disposal costs, and $80 M per year from the sales byproduct of bioreactor process net of selling expenses. Fosbeck requires a 12% of return from its investment and has a 38% marginal tax rate.

Decision Criteria – NPV and IRR

Calculate the NPV and IRR for the project.

The manager of the plant raised some concerns about the revenues from the byproduct sale. He projects that the price of the byproduct in year 1 could be 10% to 50% less than what was projected. However, the savings from reduced labor costs and reduced waste disposal costs would remain same. He presented the following probability distribution on the projected reclaimed plastic sales:

Remain same as projected 40%

Decrease by 10% 30%

Decrease by 30% 20%

Decrease by 50% 10%

Estimate the NPV and IRR for each of these scenarios. Estimate the expected NPV.

Break-even Analysis

At what volume of byproduct sales would Fosbeck have a break-even NPV=0?

Fosbuvir Project

The company considers development of a new drug to treat Hepatitis C, code-named the Fosbuvir Project. Fosbeck has already spent $420 M on preliminary research for drug development and it will need another $600 M on development this year (tax deductible) and $2 B in CapEx next year (these cash outlays are not part of the cash flows that you have estimated earlier, because this project is not approved yet). Capital expenditures will be depreciated over 10 years using straight line depreciation.

The patent for the drug is pending and the company expects to receive an FDA approval and start selling the drug in two years. Its expected revenues in the first year of sales are $1 B with subsequent annual growth of 50% over the next three years, after which the sales will be stable for another 7 years. After that the drug will lose the patent protection and its manufacturing is expected to stop. The CoGS are estimated to be 20% of revenues and SG&A expenses are $2 B a year if the drug is produced and zero otherwise.

NPV and IRR

Please estimate the NPV and IRR of the Fosbuvir Project, using the company’s WACC of 12%.

Crystal Ball

Expected revenues and expenses take into account the uncertainty of getting the patent and FDA approval. The company estimates the probability of getting the approval in two years is 10% (i.e., if the company gets the approval the revenue is $10 B, if it does not, the revenue is zero). Even if Fosbuvir gets approved by FDA, each year there is a 5 % probability of the patent becoming obsolete due to a new drug entering the market, in which case the revenues will drop to zero.

Therefore, your next task is to evaluate the Fosbuvir Project using Crystal Ball simulation (see the template) based on probability of FDA approval in two years and patent obsolescence in each subsequent year. Alternatively you are welcome to use Random Data generator in Data Analysis Pack.

What is the probability of a positive NPV?

Please discuss the riskiness of the project.

Real Option

One of your colleagues pointed out that instead of starting construction before the FDA approval, the company can invest only $0.8 B next year (depreciated over 10 years) and delay the remaining $1.2 B investment (depreciated over 8 years) for two years until the drug gets approved. Only if the drug gets approved will Fosbeck proceed with the second stage investment, which will take place in three years. The sales will commence in four years at the level of $10 B with subsequent annual growth of 50% over the next three years, after which the sales will be stable for another 5 years – due to delay the company will lose two years of revenues. The probability of patent obsolescence remains the same as before – 5% each year.

What is the NPV of this two-stage investment?

Is the option to delay the project valuable? Explain.

Pharmaset, Inc. Acquisition

The reason of the low probability of FDA approval for Fosbuvir is that another company, Pharmaset, Inc., is working on a similar drug, called FosbuvirP, and is very close to getting FDA approval and a patent. If Pharmaset gets a patent, Fosbeck’s own application will be denied. Therefore, instead of developing Fosbuvir internally, Fosbeck can acquire Pharmaset. Pharmaset already has manufacturing facilities in place and FosbuvirP is its only product. The book value of the company’s fixed assets is $3 B, which will be depreciated using the straight-line depreciation over the next 10 years. Pharmaset expects to receive the FDA approval and patent by the end of this year with sales starting next year. Its next year revenues are expected to be $4 B with subsequent annual growth of 50% over the next three years, after which the sales will be stable for another 7 years. After that the drug will lose the patent protection and its manufacturing is expected to stop. The CoGS are expected to be 20% of revenues and SG&A expenses are $3.5 B a year if the drug is produced and zero otherwise. In other words, in case of FDA approval Pharmaset’s revenues and costs will be similar to Fosbeck’s, but SG&A expenses will be higher. If Fosbeck were to acquire Pharmaset, it would be able to bring SG&A costs down to Fosbeck’s level. The probability of FDA approval is 40% and the probability of patent obsolescence remains the same as before – 5% each year.

Mergers and Acquisitions. Target (Pharmaset) Valuation

Pharmaset’s management would be open to the sale in the valuation range of $ 20 to 24 Billion. Please estimate Pharmaset’s value to Fosbeck, if it gets acquired.

Recommendations

Upon reviewing Fosbeck’s choices, what project(s) would you recommend?

Venture Capital Financing

Finally, to further reduce its risk Fosbeck considers to keep acquired Pharmaset as a separate company. In this case Fosbeck will eventually shift its R&D to Pharmaset, which will continue as a viable business even after the initial patent expires. Therefore, we can ignore the probability of a patent becoming obsolete. However, if FDA approval is not received this year, Pharmaset will go bankrupt, in which case its assets will be sold at residual book value.

A venture capital (VC) firm Menlo Ventures is willing to provide financing of up to $5 B in acquisition of Pharmaset.

If the VC agrees to invest in Pharmaset, it plans to exit after eight years at which time it expects that the company’s value would be eight times its year 8 EBIT.

Menlo Ventures offers three different ways of structuring the financing:

Straight common stock where the VC will not receive any dividend for the first four years and will receive 20% of NOPAT as a dividend for the remaining four years. The tax rate for Pharmaset is 38%. In addition, the VC will receive a 20% ownership of the company’s equity at the end of eight years.

Redeemable convertible debt with 10% coupon rate (interest is tax-deductible). The debt will be converted for 15% ownership of the equity of Pharmaset at the end of eight years. In the case of bankruptcy the debt will be immediately redeemed at its face value or at the residual assets' book value, whichever number is lower.

Redeemable preferred stock with 7.5% dividend plus warrants for 15% of the equity for an exercise price of $150 M. In the case of bankruptcy the debt will be immediately redeemed at its face value or at the residual assets' book value, whichever number is lower.

NOTE: Please provide email address for excel file. Thank you

Derivative

Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund
Materials
• Website information (23/05/2016)
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0029&FundIntExt=INT
• Summary Prospectus (27/05/2015)
• Prospectus (27/05/2015)
Anakin’s Job
In May 2016, Anakin leaves his job in Hollywood and returned to the finance industry. It is his
first love after all and the industry appears to be picking up again after the credit crunch of
2007-2008. He applies to be the risk analyst to the fund manager of the Vanguard High Yield
Corporate Fund as his quantitative training positions him well for a job that requires ever more
numerical and computational skills over the years. His solid background in applied analytics
in business management and humble demeanour help him clinch the post without much
difficulty.
The Vanguard Group is an American investment company that has approximately USD 3
trillion in asset-under-management. It is founded in 1975 by John Bogle who created the first
index fund (tied to the S&P 500 index) in the process. After an initial lull, the index grew
rapidly along with the bull market of the 1980s. The Group has since added various financial
services and products to its core business, particularly the ETFs.
Anakin is tasked by the fund manager to become thoroughly familiar with the structure of the
fund as is documented by files provided under “Materials”. After that, he is to assess the
exposure of the High Yield Corporate Fund to risks in the market. He seeks the opinion of
Darth who is a veteran market analyst with the Vanguard Guard group for over 20 years.
Outlook
Darth has this to say about the economy and fixed income market:
" The US economy is improving steadily. It will not be long before the Fed decides to raise
interest rates. Once the Fed restarts the regime of rising rates, it will about 2 years for the yield
curve to rise by 100 basis points.
Consequently, in the more stringent economic environment, companies of lower credit
qualities, namely those of Caa and below, are expected to have their credit standing further
eroded. There is a 25% chance that a Caa-rated issuer may go into default and another 25%
chance that it may be downgraded to C.
The Greek debt problem, though much stabilized than before, is still a matter of grave concern
for the Eurozone. Expect the euro to depreciate against the dollar over the course of the next 6
months. A fall of 500 pips will not be a surprise. "
Assume Anakins’ role and answer the following questions. Questions 1 and 2 concern the
Financial Environment. The Environment at large provides the context and sets the constraints
within which financial decisions are weighed and taken. Questions 3 and 4 pertain to the task
that Anakin needs to complete.

Question 1
Describe the types of mutual funds that can be found in the market in a concise and systematic
manner, suitable for presenting to a group of investors who are high net worth and impatient.
(25 marks)
Question 2
Collect data (e.g. from the internet and/or Eikon) to plot the term structures of bond yields.
Each term structure describes the state of the fixed income market for bonds of the credit quality
corresponding to that curve. The different term structures span the space of bonds across credit
qualities and maturities.
Analyse the states of these markets relative to the shape of the curves. Compare and contrast
your analysis with current market views.
Explain your steps, present your answers and quote your sources clearly.
(25 marks)
Question 3
To better understand the structure of the fund, answer the following questions:
(a) Describe the composition of the fund.
(b) What are the risks faced by the fund according to the prospectus? Analyse the nature of
the portfolio risk accordingly and comment on whether commodity price risk and equity
price risk matter to the fund management.
(c) Discuss the performance of the fund based on the financial numbers provided.
(d) Assess the quality of the management of the fund.
(25 marks)
Question 4
The fund is affected by changes in the financial markets. When interest rates rise, the value of
the portfolio falls. Occurrences that are flagged by the rating agency to be credit events can
result in the downgrading of credit rating of bond issuers. Bonds that denominated in foreign
currency are affected by fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.
(a) Analyse generally the need for hedging the various market risks for the fund.

Take into account Darth’s outlook. Address some of these risk concerns by answering the
following question:
(b) Suppose that in the coming 2 years, the prevailing interest rates are expected to go up
by 100 basis points and you are concerned. Show how you could hedge away the
interest rate risk by using an interest rate swap, assuming that the fund by may
represented by a single 5-year par bond on the $18.4 billion net assets with semi-annual
5% coupon payments starting from the current date.
In your explanation, you may assume a scenario in which a flat yield curve increases
uniformly across all terms by 25 basis points per half-a-year.
(c) Credit default swaps may be used to ameliorate credit risk. Appraise the use of such
option-like derivative instruments in managing the risk of the portfolio by explaining
how such instruments function.

Related Documents

L33 Psych 300 Chapter 5: Sampling and Probability
viridiancockroach951
Quantitative Business Analysis QBA 120
Final Exam
Study Guide
Quantitative Business Analysis QBA 120 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Combinatorics, Collectively Exhaustive Events, And1
harlequinimpala978
Quantitative Business Analysis QBA 120
Final Exam
Study Guide
Quantitative Business Analysis QBA 120 Final: Final Study Guide
harlequinimpala978

Weekly leaderboard

Home
Homework Help 3,900,000
Finance 370,000
Start filling in the gaps now
Log in