IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/eurjfi/v10y2004i2p123-138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Practitioners' perspectives on the UK cost of capital

Author

Listed:
  • Edward McLaney
  • John Pointon
  • Melanie Thomas
  • Jon Tucker

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine how UK finance practitioners derive and review the cost of capital, and to ascertain whether the final figure varied with the choice of method. To investigate behaviour in the real world a survey questionnaire was employed, eliciting responses from the finance directors of 193 UK quoted firms. The results suggest that the cost of capital calculation is subject to wide variation across firms, both with regard to the overall figure and the precise computation of its components. The intuitive appeal of the WACC and CAPM approaches appears to ensure their continued popularity in the real world. However, firms tend not to make all of the adjustments to the overall figure which academics might expect, only making simple adjustments for risk and the tax advantage to debt. The after-tax money cost of capital which is approximately 10%, is influenced by the choice of method, and firms do not appear to revise their overall cost figure rapidly in response to the environment. The cost of capital decision is of such strategic importance for the longer-term maintenance and expansion of firm value that it is nearly always made within the domain of the board of directors.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward McLaney & John Pointon & Melanie Thomas & Jon Tucker, 2004. "Practitioners' perspectives on the UK cost of capital," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 123-138.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurjfi:v:10:y:2004:i:2:p:123-138
    DOI: 10.1080/1351847032000137401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1351847032000137401
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/1351847032000137401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Stephen J & Goetzmann, William N & Ross, Stephen A, 1995. "Survival," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(3), pages 853-873, July.
    2. M. C. Freeman & I. R. Davidson, 1999. "Estimating the equity premium," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 236-246.
    3. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    4. Daniel C. Indro & Wayne Y. Lee, 1997. "Biases in Arithmetic and Geometric Averages as Estimates of Long-Run Expected Returns and Risk Premia," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), Winter.
    5. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    6. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1995. "Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, March.
    7. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexandridis, George & Kavussanos, Manolis G. & Kim, Chi Y. & Tsouknidis, Dimitris A. & Visvikis, Ilias D., 2018. "A survey of shipping finance research: Setting the future research agenda," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 164-212.
    2. Robert J. Bianchi & Michael E. Drew & Timothy Whittaker, 2016. "The Predictive Performance of Asset Pricing Models: Evidence from the Australian Securities Exchange," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(04), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Vidal García, Raúl & Ribal Sanchis, Javier & Blasco Ruiz, Ana, 2021. "Stock market multiples in the valuation of unlisted agrifood companies. || Múltiplos de mercado en la valoración de empresas agroalimentarias no cotizadas," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 31(1), pages 198-225, June.
    4. Armitage, Seth & Marston, Claire, 2008. "Corporate disclosure, cost of capital and reputation: Evidence from finance directors," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 314-336.
    5. Seth Armitage & Janusz Brzeszczynski, 2011. "Heteroscedasticity and interval effects in estimating beta: UK evidence," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(20), pages 1525-1538.
    6. Gregory, Alan & Hua, Shan & Tharyan, Rajesh, 2018. "In search of beta," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 425-441.
    7. Nene Lartey Addico & Godfred Amewu & Anthony Owusu‐Ansah, 2022. "The use of investment decision techniques and tools in practice in a frontier market: Evidence from Ghana," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1748-1763, September.
    8. Asad Ali Rind & Aitzaz Ahsan Alias Sarang & Ameet Kumar & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2023. "Does financial fraud affect implied cost of equity?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4139-4155, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Walkshäusl, Christian, 2015. "Equity financing activities and European value-growth returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 27-40.
    2. Qianwei Ying & Tahir Yousaf & Qurat ul Ain & Yasmeen Akhtar & Muhammad Shahid Rasheed, 2019. "Stock Investment and Excess Returns: A Critical Review in the Light of the Efficient Market Hypothesis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, June.
    3. George, Thomas J. & Hwang, Chuan-Yang, 2010. "A resolution of the distress risk and leverage puzzles in the cross section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 56-79, April.
    4. Urbański, Stanisław & Zarzecki, Dariusz, 2022. "The Fama-French model for estimating the cost of equity capital: The impact of real options of investment projects," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    5. Richardson, Scott & Tuna, Irem & Wysocki, Peter, 2010. "Accounting anomalies and fundamental analysis: A review of recent research advances," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 410-454, December.
    6. Barberis, Nicholas & Thaler, Richard, 2003. "A survey of behavioral finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 18, pages 1053-1128, Elsevier.
    7. Nicos Koussis & Michalis Makrominas, 2015. "Growth options, option exercise and firms’ systematic risk," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 243-267, February.
    8. Allen, D. E. & Cleary, F., 1998. "Determinants of the cross-section of stock returns in the Malaysian stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 253-275.
    9. Urbański Stanisław & Leśkow Jacek, 2020. "Using the ICAPM to estimate the cost of capital of stock portfolios: empirical evidence on the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Statistics in Transition New Series, Statistics Poland, vol. 21(1), pages 73-94, March.
    10. van Dijk, Mathijs A., 2011. "Is size dead? A review of the size effect in equity returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 3263-3274.
    11. Stanisław Urbański & Jacek Leśkow, 2020. "Using the ICAPM to estimate the cost of capital of stock portfolios: empirical evidence on the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 21(1), pages 73-94, March.
    12. Randolph B. Cohen & Christopher Polk & Tuomo Vuolteenaho, 2009. "The Price Is (Almost) Right," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2739-2782, December.
    13. Kothari, S. P. & Warner, Jerold B., 1997. "Measuring long-horizon security price performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 301-339, March.
    14. Christiane Goodfellow & Dirk Schiereck & Steffen Wippler, 2013. "Are behavioural finance equity funds a superior investment? A note on fund performance and market efficiency," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(2), pages 111-119, April.
    15. Horowitz, Joel L. & Loughran, Tim & Savin, N. E., 2000. "The disappearing size effect," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 83-100, March.
    16. Wolfgang Aussenegg & Andreas Grünbichler, 1999. "Der Size-Effekt am Österreichischen Aktienmarkt," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 51(7), pages 636-661, July.
    17. Magdalena Mikolajek-Gocejna, 2021. "Estimation, Instability, and Non-Stationarity of Beta Coefficients for Twenty-four Emerging Markets in 2005-2021," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 370-395.
    18. Aynur Pala, 2014. "The Effect of Valuation Ratios, Gold Price, and Petroleum Price on Equity Returns: A Comparison of Static Panel and Quantile Regressions," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(1), pages 80-89, January.
    19. Tai, Chu-Sheng, 2003. "Are Fama-French and momentum factors really priced?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(4-5), pages 359-384, December.
    20. Brav, Alon & Geczy, Christopher & Gompers, Paul A., 2000. "Is the abnormal return following equity issuances anomalous?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 209-249, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:eurjfi:v:10:y:2004:i:2:p:123-138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/REJF20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.