Strategic Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategic Financial Management - Essay Example With an investment of 4.8 billion, the vision of Scottish Power is to be the UK's best-integrated energy supplier and a world leader in Renewable as a vertically integrated energy company. In May 2005, Scottish Power sold it's regulated US business for 2.25 billion in cash and had returned to the shareholders in June. In 2006, it achieved profit before tax 675 million, which was 47%, increase of the previous year. Adjusted earnings per share for continuing operation at 27.9 pence, which were 46% ahead. The adjusted earnings per share for the group at 44,1 pence were 22% ahead. Dividend payable on the new ordinary shares in issue following the return of cash capital reorganisation, was 9.4 pence per share bringing the total dividend for the year to 25.0 pence in respect of each ordinary share held on the relevant record date for last three years. The Market value of the shareholder's equity is directly observable from the capital markets. In theory, the market value should be equal the warranted economic value of the firm. The true economic value of a firm or business or division or project of any strategy depends on the cash flows and the appropriate discount rate. Here we shall discuss briefly three most commonly advocated methods of shareholder value. The first method, called the free cash flow method, uses the weighted average cost of debt and equity 3 to discount free cash flows. You can recall that free cash flows are calculated as follows: Here,PBIT= profit before interest and tax, T= corporate tax rate, DEP= tax depreciation, ONCKI= other non-cash items,NWC+ change in net working capital 4,CAPEX= incremental investment. Terminal or residual value reflects the value of post-planning cash flows. Thus, the economic value or simply value of a firm or a business is: The value of a firm or a business generating perpetual FCF will be as follows: We may recall that FCF estimates do not make any adjustment for interest charges. Thus, FCF do not include financing 5 effect. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) includes after tax cost of debt. Hence, the financing effect is incorporated in WACC rather than cash flows. WACC, you may, recall, is calculated as follows: We may recall that WACC is based on assumptions that the firm has an optimum 6 capital structure and that debt is perpetual. The second method calculate the economic value of a firm or a business into two parts: Notice that ku is the cost of capital of an un-levered firm. For the levered firm, the second part includes the value of interest tax shields (VITS): Thus, the value of levered firm of business is: Value of a levered firm = Value of a un-levered firm+ Value of interest fax shield We can obtain value

Homicide in England and Wales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Homicide in England and Wales - Essay Example Table 1. Select data on crime, figures and Source: Home Office 2010, p. 31 Based on Table 1 which was taken from Table 2.04 of Home Office (2010, p. 31), violators for the offence of manslaughter was 739 in 1997, 750 for fiscal year 1998-99, 766 for 1999-00, 850 for 2000/01, 891 for 2001/02, and 1,047 for 2002/03. According to the statistics in the document, the offence count for manslaughter has been decreasing for the period 1999 to 2002/03. Beginning 2003/04, however, the trend was reversed. Instead of an increasing offence count for manslaughter, we have instead a generally decreasing victim count. The victim count for manslaughter decreased from 1,047 in 2002/03 to 904 in 2003/04, to 868 in 2004/05, to 764 in 2005/06, and to 758 in 2006/07. The count for manslaughter slightly increased to 774 in 2007/08 but it decreased to 657 in 2008/09 that is way below the count in 2006/07, decreasing further to 615 in 2009/10. The offence for manslaughter decreased by 6% in 2009/10 compared to its level in 2008/09. The count for attempted murder generally followed the trend for manslaughter. The count for â€Å"attempted murder† in 2009/10 at 588 is much lower than its count in 1997 in 652, even if the count for â€Å"attempted murder† increased by 2% from its count of 576 in 2008/09 to its count of 588 in 2009/10. As of 2007/08, the offence â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† remains high because the offence remains in several thousand cases. However, we should note that the offence count for â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† in 2007/08 level at 9,962 is close to its count in 1997 at 9,340. More important, however, we must note that its count of 9,962 in 2007/08 is about half to far less than half of the offence count in a total of four years or from 2002/03 to 2005/06. The offence count for â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† in 2007/08 at 9,962 is also way below than its count of 12,822 in 2006/2007. Further, it is very imp ortant to point out that the count for the offence â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† has been consistently decreasing since 2002/03. It is also important to emphasize that the consistent decrease in the count has been going on for at least five years. The data appears to suggest that both the offence of manslaughter, the offence of attempted murder, and the offence of â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† are all on the decline. Meanwhile, the offence count for â€Å"possession of weapon† consistently increased from 1998/99 to 2004/05. Beginning 2005/06 until 2007/2008, there is a consistent decrease in the offence count but it does not seem substantial because the offence count was not restored close enough to its count level during and near the period 1998/99. The figures in Table 1 validate an important point against capital punishment or the death penalty. Although capital punishment has been abolished in England and Wales, the abolition of the death pen alty did not present an obstacle for many important crimes or offence to be reduced. According to Radelet and Lacock (2009, p. 490), criminologists have been interested whether capital punishment is really effective in deterring crime or if the absence of death penalty would increase the crime rate and incidence. Table 1 from Home Office (2010) provides an important answer. As shown by the data and by our discussion of the offence count in manslaughter, â€Å"attempted murder†, and â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder†, the absence of a death penalty will not imply an absence