ACCA FM Syllabus E. Business Finance - Types of Risk - Notes 5 / 6
Let's look at 3 commonly examined types of Risk
Business Risk
comes from the nature of a company’s business operations
The variability of returns due to business operations
The way operating profit changes as revenue changes
Looks at operational gearing
How much variable compared to fixed costs the business has
Can be calculated as (Sales - variable costs) / Operating profit
Then shown as a %
Financial Risk
Looks at the amount of debt as a source of finance
The variability of returns due to having to pay interest
Debt/equity ratio - using either book or market values
Interest cover also - PBIT / Interest
Systematic Risk
the sum of business risk and financial risk (to the shareholder)
The risk relating to the market as a whole (individual company risk diversified away)
Also known as Market risk and Undiversifiable risk
Can be assessed by the equity beta of the company (which includes both finance and business risks)