CIMA F3 Exam With Confidence Using Practice Dumps

 C – More cash = able to react quickly to unexpected investment opportunities.

 D – Cash buffer reduces the likelihood of liquidity problems in a downturn.

 E – If excess cash were returned, markets might read it as “no good growth opportunities”, so retaining avoids that negative signal.

We’re looking for long-term changes that would improve a company’s credit rating (i.e. reduce perceived credit risk and increase capacity to service debt):

A. Increase in interest cover (EBIT / interest) → higher coverage, safer for lenders → positive.

B. Decrease in (Net debt)/(EBITDA) → lower leverage relative to earnings → positive.

C. Increase in free cash flow from operations → more internally generated cash to pay interest and repay debt → positive.

D. Decrease in (Book debt)/(Book equity) is also a good sign in reality, but the question restricts us to three; exam focus is usually on coverage and cash flow-based ratios, so A, B and C are the best three.

E. Decrease in dividend cover (earnings / dividend) means paying a larger proportion of earnings out as dividends → less retained profit and weaker protection for creditors → negative for credit rating.

So the three most likely to improve the rating: A, B, C.

B. Diversification into another product market will lower business risk

Diversifying into a different sector can reduce unsystematic (business-specific) risk, as cash flows from different industries may be less correlated.

C. Greater protection from transaction risk

Company A already has B$ exposures (manufacturing and a B$ loan). Acquiring Company B, which operates and earns in B$, can provide B$ inflows that help naturally hedge B$ outflows, reducing transaction risk.

D. Greater protection from translation risk

The acquisition adds net assets in B$, which can act as a balance sheet hedge against existing B$ liabilities (such as the B$ loan). On consolidation, this can reduce the volatility of reported equity due to exchange rate movements, i.e. translation risk.

Option A is weak: political risk in Country B is not reduced by owning more assets there. E is doubtful because Company B is in a different industrial sector, so classic production scale economies are unlikely to be a primary justification.