CIMA F3 Exam With Confidence Using Practice Dumps

This question examines loan covenant compliance, a topic covered in CIMA F3 under Debt Finance, Financial Risk, and Dividend Policy. Loan covenants are contractual restrictions imposed by lenders to protect their interests. Breaching a covenant can trigger penalties or loan repayment demands, so directors must assess compliance carefully using projected financial information.

The company has two covenants:

Interest cover must not fall below 4 times

Retained earnings for the year must not fall below $5.00 million

Step 1: Interest Cover Covenant

CIMA F3 defines interest cover as:

From the projections:

EBIT = $25.00 million

Interest = $3.20 million

Since 7.8 > 4, the company meets the interest cover covenant.

Step 2: Retained Earnings Covenant

Earnings after tax are projected at $15.26 million.

The most recent dividend per share is $0.10, and dividends are planned to increase by 8%:

With 100 million shares in issue:

Retained earnings for the year:

Since $4.46 million < $5.00 million, the company breaches the retained earnings covenant.

Conclusion (CIMA F3 Interpretation)

Interest cover covenant: Complied with

Retained earnings covenant: Breached

Under CIMA F3 guidance, directors must recognise that even when profitability appears strong, dividend policy can cause covenant breaches if distributions are excessive.

A spin-off/demerger normally involves separating a division or subsidiary and giving its shares to the existing shareholders. It doesn’t in itself raise finance (A), it doesn’t introduce new shareholders to the core entity (B), and it does not inherently increase takeover risk (D). Its main advantage is that it allows the market to value the demerged business separately, revealing its “true” value – C is correct.

Net book value of equity = $20m

Net realisable value of equity = $25m

Free cash flow to equity = $3.5m indefinitely

Cost of equity (ke) = 10%

Value from FCFE (perpetuity):

Vequity=3.50.10=35mV_{\text{equity}} = \frac{3.5}{0.10} = 35\text{m}Vequity​=0.103.5​=35m

A reasonable minimum is the break-up / net realisable value = $25m.

A reasonable maximum is the going-concern DCF value = $35m.

Answer: A. Minimum $25.0m, maximum $35.0m