Ecri corporation is a holding company with four main subsidiaries. the percentage of its business coming from each of the subsidiaries, and their respective betas, are as follows:

subsidiary % of business beta
electric utilities 60% 0.70
cable company 25 0.90
real estate 10 1.30
int’l special pjt 5 1.50

(a)-what is the holding company’s beta?
(b)-assume that the risk-free rate is 6% and that the market risk premium is 5%. what is the holding company’s required rate of return?

(c)-ecri is considering a change in its strategic focus: it will reduce its reliance on the electric utility subsidiary so that the percentage of its business from the subsidiary will be 50%. at the same time, ecri will increase its reliance on the international / special projects division, and the percentage of its business from that subsidiary will rise to 15%. what will be the shareholders’ required rate of return if management adopts these changes?

25. kerry company plans to sell 200,000 units of finished product in july and anticipates a growth rate in sales of 5% per month. the desired monthly ending inventory in units of finished product is 80% of the next month's estimated sales. there are 150,000 finished units in inventory on june 30. kerry company's production requirement in units of finished product for the three-month period ending september 30 is: a. 712,025 units b. 630,500 units c. 664,000 units d. 665,720 units

The leading producer of cell phone backup batteries, jumpstart, has achieved great success because they produce high-quality battery backups that are not too expensive. even so, another company that produces lower-quality batteries at the same price has also achieved some success, but not as much as jumpstart. also, in general, the price of backup batteries has declined because of economies of scale and learning. in addition, jumpstart has added complementary assets, such as a carrying case. considering all of these factors, the backup battery industry is most likely in the introduction stage. growth stage. shakeout stage. maturity stage.

The production manager of rordan corporation has submitted the following quarterly production forecast for the upcoming fiscal year: 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter units to be produced 10,800 8,500 7,100 11,200 each unit requires 0.25 direct labor-hours, and direct laborers are paid $20.00 per hour. required: 1. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year. assume that the direct labor workforce is adjusted each quarter to match the number of hours required to produce the forecasted number of units produced. 2. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming that the direct labor workforce is not adjusted each quarter. instead, assume that the company’s direct labor workforce consists of permanent employees who are guaranteed to be paid for at least 2,500 hours of work each quarter. if the number of required direct labor-hours is less than this number, the workers are paid for 2,500 hours anyway. any hours worked in excess of 2,500 hours in a quarter are paid at the rate of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate for direct labor.