Microsoft Word - BAFI1008 - BUSINESS FINANCE ASSIGNMENT_VERSION 1
1
BUSINESS FINANCE
GROUP ASSIGNMENT
VERSION 1
Semester 1 2020
(40 marks worth 40%)
Due Date: Week 12
In this assignment you will pull together your understanding of the main concepts in Business
Finance and analyse financial statements to make some ‘real’ business decisions. Some of the
figures used in the following scenario are real, some are not. The point is to analyse the
figures, whether they be provided or sourced.
Scenario
Your team has been tasked by the executive management to provide careful financial
decision analysis in regards to Rio Tinto’s latest investment in Western Australia’s
Pilbara region. This will require preparing a business report which will be presented to
the executive management of Rio Tinto.
Background
Read the following article from the Financial Review to get some background.
https:
www.afr.com/companies/mining
io-tinto-invests-1-bn-in-pilbara-iron-ore-mine XXXXXXXXXX-
p53ejn
(Or see canvas for a pdf copy)
Rio Tinto is considering a construction proposal to expand the Western Turner Syncline
Phase 2 mine. The additional iron ore will feed into Rio’s production of the “Pilbara
Blend” and maintain its iron ore production capacity for raw materials used to make
steel.
However in order to proceed with this expansion, Rio Tinto must construct a new
“Crusher”, an ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) facility, and a 13-kilometre
conveyor to link the greater Tom Price site’s two mines.
Rio Tinto has undertaken a feasibility study costing $2.9 million to explore their options.
The required tax rate for both options can be found in the details under the balance sheet.
[For simplicity we will assume a project life time of 3 years – that is Year 0, Year 1,
Year 2 and Year 3]
Option 1: Building a “Crusher” and 13-kilometre Conveyor
The construction and installation of a new “Crusher” and 13-kilometre conveyor will
cost $18 million. In addition, an ANFO facility will also need to be constructed at a
cost $6.4 million. This facility will need to be supplied with slu
y pumps, mixed
flotation systems and other equipment at a total cost of $7 million. Rio Tinto’s reserve
fleet of autonomous Caterpillar Haulage trucks will meet the needs for this project,
however until recently, the fleet has been earning a rental income of $860,000 per year.
2
The additional iron ore mined is expected to generate a revenue of $33 million per
year, which is forecasted to decrease by 5.3% per annum due to slowing demand from
China. As a result of the additional complexities involved with the construction and
management of this project, 10 new engineers (yearly salary per engineer $145,000)
will replace 8 existing engineers (yearly salary per engineer $115,000). The 1000
additional construction labour required for this project is expected to cost $3.7 million
per annum for the duration of the project. For tax reasons you will expense the cost of
the ANFO facility immediately. The cost for the construction of the new “Crusher”,
13-kilometre conveyor and associated slu
y pumps, mixed floatation systems and
other equipment will be depreciated over three years using the straight-line method.
Due to the nature of the mining project, the crusher and associated systems and
equipment will likely have a salvage value of $9 million at the end of three years.
Finally, the required net working capital is $4.5 million which will be returned at the
end of the project’s lifetime.
Option 2: Outsourcing the supply of ore
Alternatively, to achieve the same iron ore mined from Option 1, Rio Tinto can
contract BHP to supply the required iron ore. Based on the amount of iron ore required,
BHP has quoted a total cost of $35 million. BHP has however offered this rate on the
condition that Rio Tinto pays 15% of the total cost in advance in the beginning of the
year (i.e. Y0), with the remaining paid in equal instalments thereafter. Rio Tinto will
process the iron ore using existing facilities at an expected cost of $7.2 million per
year. Interest expenses related to this project is expected to $2.3 million per year.
[Assume whether sourcing the required iron ore from Option 1 or Option 2, the expected
evenue generated from the additional iron ore is the same]
Your task
Part A: To ca
y out an analysis, you will need to calculate the appropriate Weighted Average
Cost of Capital (WACC). Rio Tinto executive management team are particularly concerned
that the WACC be accurate, thus you are expected to determine the WACC based on recent
market and other data. (Read below for additional information).
Part B: Ca
y out a detailed analysis of the two given options and make recommendations to
Rio Tinto about those options.
To establish the WACC you have already assembled the following information
Previous year’s stock exchange data for the market (ASX200) and for Rio Tinto,
adjusted for dividends and capitalization (Price Index). This data is organized
in the file: Project Data.xlsx. Use this dataset to calculate beta. For CAPM
purposes use the return on the market (%) provided in the next section.
3
Balance Sheet of Rio Tinto as of 31 December 2019
Extract of Balance Sheet for Rio Tinto
Issued Capital $ million
33,020,000 Ordinary shares of $86.0 fully paid XXXXXXXXXX
7,400, XXXXXXXXXX% Preference Shares of $84.0 fully paid 621.60
Cu
ent Liabilities and Provisions
Bank Overdraft 87.00
Trade Creditors 46.00
Unsecured Notes 63.00
Non-Cu
ent Liabilities
Debentures 94.00
Term Loans 72.00
Mortgage 89.00
• The company’s preference and ordinary shares are cu
ently trading at $91.28 each.
• The risk-free rate of return is 1.05 % p.a., and the return on the market is 5.90 % p.a.
• Debentures have a coupon interest rate of 8% p.a. and could be re-issued at the present
time at an interest rate of 6.5% p.a. The debentures will be redeemed at their face value
in five years’ time. Face value is as per the balance sheet.
• The mortgage loan is repayable in six years’ time and the cu
ent interest rate is 4.35%
p.a. The mortgage was initially negotiated at 6.90% p.a.
• Term loans have a cu
ent interest rate of 5% p.a., but were negotiated at an interest
ate of 6% p.a. They are repayable in full in four years’ time. The term loans consists
of regular semi-annually interest payments with the principal repaid at maturity
• Unsecured notes will mature in six months and will not be replaced. They have a
cu
ent interest rate of 2.86% p.a.
• The cu
ent interest rate on the bank overdraft is 4.20% p.a.
• Interest on all debt securities is paid twice-yearly and the corporate tax-rate is 33
percent
Your assessment requirements
Part A
Calculate WACC:
4
The first part of the analysis requires you to work out the Weighted Average Cost of
Capital (WACC) for Rio Tinto. With the help of the given information and given data,
you need to work out the individual costs1 and value of each of the sources of capital
and apply that to the WACC equation to work out the overall weighted cost.
(20 marks)
Part B
Calculate NPV:
Evaluate the two options using NPV analysis and clearly identify which of the
two alternatives results in a higher valuation for Rio Tinto. Include your
opinion.
Iron Ore price analysis:
Describe in a short paragraph (less than half a page) your predictions on iron
ore prices. Assume due to some event (maybe related to your predictions), the
price of iron ore will decrease by 30% per annum during the lifetime of the
project. Assume quantity demanded of iron ore during the lifetime of this project
emains consistent, would this change your previous analysis? Describe.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Part C
Business Report overall quality XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
The assignment is to be presented as a business report to Rio Tinto executive
management team.
Business reports are structured with:
an executive summary
table of contents
informative headings and sub-headings
numbered sections
page numbering
labelled graphs and tables (if used)
a reference list.
The main content of your report should be 3-4 pages, excluding appendix and be
professionally presented. A concise, relevant and visually appealing paper is essential
for business communication.
Regarding the WACC calculations, whilst you need to present your final work in a table
in the main body of your report, all subsidiary calculations need to be provided in an
appendix.
1 For the cost of ordinary shares you will need to work out Rio Tinto’s beta. See canvas video.
5
The report is to be submitted as a PDF version of your work.
It must use a font/fonts suitable for business communication. The reference style to be used is
Harvard style referencing (author-date).
More specifically, your report in this case needs to set out the following:
1. An executive summary
2. A table showing the calculation of Rio Tinto’s WACC using market data.
3. A table(s) showing your NPV calculations of both Option 1 and Option 2.
4. A recommendation to Rio Tinto management as to which alternative it should
adopt