Nike Cost of Capital
I. Single of Multiple Costs of Capital
Since Nike has multiple business segments it is appropriate to question whether to use single or multiple costs of capital for the analysis. Kimi’s assistant Joanna went ahead and chose to use one cost of capital for Nike. We agree with her decision because Nike’s different segments are all generally sports related and are susceptible to the same market risks. For example, Nike’s footwear and apparel lines, which make up a combined 92% of their revenue, are segments that complement each other and are sold through the same marketing and distribution channels. Non-Nike products made up only 4.5% of Nike’s revenue including the Cole Haan brand, a company that sells casual dress and footwear products. Since the Cole Haan is the only business segment that took on different risks than the others and since it makes up such a tiny fraction of the revenues, its impact on the decision is insignificant so one cost of capital should be used for the whole company.
II. Methodology for Calculating Cost of Capital Joanna is correct to use the WACC method for computing the costs of capital. However, her estimation of the proportion of debt to equity is incorrect because she uses book values from the past instead of using the current market values. The reason why we must use the current market value of debt and equity is so that the estimate of Nike’s present day WACC is as accurate as possible. Using book values, even though it is historical information, is incorrect because we are focused on finding the present values for Nike’s capital structure.
Capital Sources Book Values in Millions
Debt
Current portion of long-term debt $ 5.4 Notes payable 855.3 Long-term debt 435.9 $ 1,296.6 10.1% of total capital Equity