Cost of Capital

By ADAM HAYES

Updated November 02, 2023

Reviewed by MARGARET JAMES

Fact checked by SUZANNE KVILHAUG

资本成本

作者：ADAM HAYES

更新时间：2023年11月2日

审阅人：MARGARET JAMES

事实核查人：SUZANNE KVILHAUG

 

What Is Cost of Capital?

什么是资本成本？

 

Cost of capital is a calculation of the minimum return that would be necessary in order to justify undertaking a capital budgeting project, such as building a new factory. It is an evaluation of whether a projected decision can be justified by its cost.

资本成本是对最低回报的计算，最低回报是证明开展资本预算项目（如建造新工厂）的合理性所必需的回报。它是基于成本进行的对一项计划决策是否合理的评估。

 

Many companies use a combination of debt and equity to finance business expansion. For such companies, the overall cost of capital is derived from the weighted average cost of all capital sources. This is known as the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

许多公司通过组合使用债务和股权为业务扩张融资。对于这类公司，总资本成本是从所有资本来源的加权平均成本得出的。这就是所谓的加权平均资本成本（WACC）。

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

文章要点

 

Cost of capital represents the return a company needs to achieve in order to justify the cost of a capital project, such as purchasing new equipment or constructing a new building.

资本成本代表公司需要实现的回报，以证明资本项目的成本合理，如购买新设备或建造新建筑。

 

Cost of capital encompasses the cost of both equity and debt, weighted according to the company's preferred or existing capital structure. This is known as the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

资本成本包括股权成本和债务成本，根据公司的首选或现有资本结构进行加权。这就是所谓的加权平均资本成本（WACC）。

 

A company's investment decisions for new projects should always generate a return that exceeds the firm's cost of the capital used to finance the project. Otherwise, the project will not generate a return for investors.

一个公司对新项目的投资决策应该总是产生超过公司用于项目融资的资本成本的回报。否则，该项目便不会为投资者带来回报。

 

Understanding Cost of Capital

了解资本成本

 

The concept of the cost of capital is key information used to determine a project's hurdle rate. A company embarking on a major project must know how much money the project will have to generate in order to offset the cost of undertaking it and then continue to generate profits for the company. The company may consider the capital cost using debt—levered cost of capital. 资本成本的概念是用来确定项目最低投资回报率的关键信息。一个从事重大项目的公司必须知道该项目将产生多少资金，以抵消承担该项目的成本，然后继续为公司创造利润。公司可以使用债务杠杆资本成本来考虑资本成本。

 

Cost of capital, from the perspective of an investor, is an assessment of the return that can be expected from the acquisition of stock shares or any other investment. This is an estimate and might include best- and worst-case scenarios. An investor might look at the volatility (beta) of a company's financial results to determine whether a stock's cost is justified by its potential return.

从投资者的角度来看，资本成本是对购买股票或任何其他投资的预期回报的评估。这是一个估计，可能包括最好和最坏的情况。投资者可能会查看公司财务业绩的波动性（beta），以确定股票的成本与其潜在回报是否合理。

 

Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)

加权平均资本成本（WACC）

 

A firm's cost of capital is typically calculated using the weighted average cost of capital formula that considers the cost of both debt and equity capital.

公司的资本成本通常使用加权平均资本成本公式计算，该公式同时考虑了债务和股权资本的成本。

 

Each category of the firm's capital is weighted proportionately to arrive at a blended rate, and the formula considers every type of debt and equity on the company's balance sheet, including common and preferred stock, bonds, and other forms of debt.

公司的每一类资本都按比例加权，以得出一个混合利率。该公式考虑了公司资产负债表上的每一种债务和股权，包括普通股和优先股、债券和其他形式的债务。

 

The Cost of Debt

债务成本

 

The cost of capital becomes a factor in deciding which financing track to follow: debt, equity, or a combination of the two.

资本成本成为决定融资途径的一个因素：债务、股权或两者的结合。

 

Early-stage companies rarely have sizable assets to pledge as collateral for loans, so equity financing becomes the default mode of funding. Less-established companies with limited operating histories will pay a higher cost for capital than older companies with solid track records.

早期公司很少有相当大的资产作为贷款抵押，因此股权融资成为默认的融资模式。比起老牌公司，经营时间不长的不知名公司支付的资本成本更高。

 

The cost of debt is merely the interest rate paid by the company on its debt. However, since interest expense is tax-deductible, the debt is calculated on an after-tax basis as follows:

债务成本仅仅是公司为其债务支付的利率。然而，由于利息支出是可减免课税的，债务一般在税后基础上计算，具体如下：

 

 

Where:

其中：

Interest expense=Int. paid on the firm’s current debt

利息支出=就公司当前债务支付的利息

T=The company’s marginal tax rate

T=公司的边际税率

 

The cost of debt can also be estimated by adding a credit spread to the risk-free rate and multiplying the result by (1 - T).

债务成本也可以通过将信用利差加到无风险利率上，然后将结果乘以（1-T）来估算。

 

The Cost of Equity

股权成本

 

The cost of equity is more complicated since the rate of return demanded by equity investors is not as clearly defined as it is by lenders. The cost of equity is approximated by the capital asset pricing model as follows:

股权成本更加复杂，因为股权投资者要求的回报率不像贷款人那样明确。股权成本按资本资产定价模式（CAPM）估算如下：

 

CAPM（Cost of equity）=Rf+β（Rm-Rf）

CAPM（股权成本）=Rf+β（Rm-Rf）

Where:

其中：

Rf=无风险利率

Rm=市场回报率

 

Beta is used in the CAPM formula to estimate risk, and the formula would require a public company's own stock beta. For private companies, a beta is estimated based on the average beta among a group of similar public companies. Analysts may refine this beta by calculating it on an after-tax basis. The assumption is that a private firm's beta will become the same as the industry average beta.

CAPM公式中使用Beta（贝塔系数）来估计风险，该公式需要上市公司自己的股票贝塔系数。对于私营公司，贝塔系数是根据一组类似上市公司的平均贝塔系数估算的。分析师可以通过在税后基础上计算来完善这个贝塔系数。假设一家私人公司的贝塔系数将与行业平均贝塔系数相同。

 

Cost of Debt + Cost of Equity = Overall Cost of Capital

债务成本+股权成本=总资本成本

 

The firm’s overall cost of capital is based on the weighted average of these costs.

公司的总资本成本是这些成本的加权平均值。

 

For example, consider an enterprise with a capital structure consisting of 70% equity and 30% debt; its cost of equity is 10% and the after-tax cost of debt is 7%.

例如，一个资本结构由70%股权和30%债务组成的企业，其股权成本为10%，税后债务成本为7%。

 

Therefore, its WACC would be:

因此，其WACC将是：

 

（0.7X10%）+（0.3X7%）=9.1%

 

This is the cost of capital that would be used to discount future cash flows from potential projects and other opportunities to estimate their net present value (NPV) and ability to generate value.

这一成本即为用于对潜在的项目和其他机会的未来现金流进行贴现（以估计其净现值（NPV）和创造价值的能力）的资本成本。

 

Companies strive to attain the optimal financing mix based on the cost of capital for various funding sources. Debt financing is more tax-efficient than equity financing since interest expenses are tax-deductible and dividends on common shares are paid with after-tax dollars. However, too much debt can result in dangerously high leverage levels, forcing the company to pay higher interest rates to offset the higher default risk.

公司努力根据各种资金来源的资本成本获得最佳融资组合。债务融资比股权融资更具节税性，因为利息支出是可减免课税的，普通股的股息是税后支付的。然而，过多的债务会导致危险的高杠杆水平，迫使公司支付更高的利率来抵消更高的违约风险。

 

Importance of Cost of Capital

资本成本的重要性

 

Businesses and financial analysts use the cost of capital to determine if funds are being invested effectively. If the return on an investment is greater than the cost of capital, that investment will end up being a net benefit to the company's balance sheets. Conversely, an investment whose returns are equal to or lower than the cost of capital indicate that the money is not being spent wisely.

企业和金融分析师使用资本成本来确定资金是否得到有效投资。如果一项投资的回报大于资本成本，这项投资最终将成为公司资产负债表中的净收益。相反，回报等于或低于资本成本的投资表明这笔钱没有被明智地使用。

 

The cost of capital can determine a company's valuation. Since a company with a high cost of capital can expect lower proceeds in the long run, investors are likely to see less value in owning a share of that company's equity.

资本成本可以决定一个公司的估值。由于资本成本高的公司长期收益较低，投资者可能会认为持有该公司股票的价值较低。

 

Cost of Capital by Industry

按行业划分的资本成本

 

Every industry has its own prevailing average cost of capital.

每个行业都有自己的普遍平均资本成本。

 

The numbers vary widely. For example, according to a compilation from New York University's Stern School of Business, homebuilding has a relatively high cost of capital of 10.68%, while the retail grocery business is much lower, at 6.37%.

这些数字差别很大。例如，根据纽约大学斯特恩商学院（Stern School of Business）的汇编，住宅建筑的资本成本相对较高，为10.68%，而零售杂货业务的资本成本要低得多，为6.37%。

 

According to the Stern School of Business, the cost of capital is highest among electrical equipment manufacturers, building supply retailers, and tobacco and semiconductor companies. Those industries tend to require significant capital investment.

根据斯特恩商学院的数据，电气设备制造商、建筑用品零售商、烟草和半导体公司的资本成本最高。这些行业往往需要大量的资本投资。

 

Industries with lower capital costs include general utility companies, regional banks, and money center banks. Such companies may require less equipment or may benefit from very steady cash flows.

资本成本较低的行业包括通用公用事业公司、地区银行和货币中心银行。这些公司可能需要较少的设备，或者可能受益于非常稳定的现金流。

 

How Do You Calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital?

如何计算加权平均资本成本？

 

The weighted average cost of capital represents the average cost of the company's capital, weighted according to the type of capital and its share on the company balance sheet. This is determined by multiplying the cost of each type of capital by the percentage of that type of capital on the company's balance sheet and adding the products together.

加权平均资本成本是指公司资本的平均成本，根据资本类型及其在公司资产负债表上的份额进行加权。这是通过将每种资本的成本乘以该资本在公司资产负债表上所占的百分比，然后将乘积相加来确定的。

 

The Bottom Line

关键信息

 

The cost of capital measures the cost that a business incurs to finance its operations. It measures the cost of borrowing money from creditors, or raising it from investors through equity financing, compared to the expected returns on an investment. This metric is important in determining if capital is being deployed effectively.

资本成本衡量的是企业为其运营融资所产生的成本。它衡量的是从债权人处借钱的成本，或通过股权融资从投资者那里筹集资金的成本（与投资的预期回报相比较）。这一指标对于确定资本是否得到有效利用非常重要。