Q. Determine marginal tax rate?

Ans.

Henkel does not carry debt beyond five years. To determine the cost of debt:

a. For Henkel AG, which Treasury rate at which maturity is most appropriate to use in valuing the cost of debt of the company?

To get the cost of debt, I believe I will use the risk-free rate that I have to use in question 1 part a, and then I will top it up with an extra rate from part b below?

What do you think?

b. Add a default premium based on the company's debt rating by Standard & Poor's. Yields by credit rating can be found on the "Yields" worksheet of the "Select Market Data" spreadsheet.

(If the company's rating is between reported portfolios, interpolate between the nearest ratings)

Don't know what to do.

c. Determine Henkel's marginal tax rate; use the tax reconciliation table in the annual report. Set the marginal tax rate equal to the "tax rate on income."

Don't know what to do.

d. To complete the cost of capital, weight the after-tax cost of debt and cost of equity using the company's year-end capital structure (found in the "Select Market Data" spreadsheet).