operating leverage The percentage of fixed costs in a company's cost structure.

Generally, the higher the operating leverage, the more a company's income is affected by fluctuation in sales volume. The higher income vs. sales ratio results from a smaller portion of variable costs, which means the company does not have to pay as much additional money for each unit produced or sold. The more significant the volume of sales, the more beneficial the investment in fixed costs becomes. operating leverage Extent to which a firm commits itself to high levels of fixed operating costs (which vary with time, such as insurance, rent, salaries but not interest) as compared with the levels of variable costs (which vary with volume, such as for energy, labor, material). Firms with high operating leverage have high breakeven points but (when the breakeven point is crossed) they show a greater increase in operating income with every increase in sales revenue (and greater losses with every drop in sales revenue) in comparison with firms with low operating leverage. Also called operation gearing, it is one of the major components of operating risk. See also financial leverage and investment leverage. financial leverage

The degree to which an investor or business is utilizing borrowed money. Companies that are highly leveraged may be at risk of bankruptcy if they are unable to make payments on their debt; they may also be unable to find new lenders in the future. Financial leverage is not always bad, however; it can increase the shareholders' return on investment and often there are tax advantages associated with borrowing. also called leverage. financial leverage relationship between firms borrowings and stockholders funds the relationship between a company's borrowings (which includes both prior charge capital and long-term debt) and its stockholders' funds (common share capital plus reserves). Calculations can be made in a number of ways, and may be based on capital values or on earnings/interest relationships. Overdrafts and interest paid thereon may also be included: Optimum capital structure in financial management? Capital structure with a minimum weighted-average cost of capital and thereby maximizes the value of the firm's stock, but it does not maximize earnings per share (Eps). Greater leverage maximizes EPS but also increases risk. Thus, the highest stock price is not reached by maximizing EPS. The optimal capital structure usually involves some debt, but not 100% debt. Ordinarily, some firms cannot identify this optimal point precisely, but they should attempt to find an optimal range for the capital

structure. The required rate of return on equity capital (R) can be estimated in various ways, for example, by adding a percentage to the firm's long-term cost of debt. Definition of 'Hamada Equation' A fundamental analysis method of analyzing a firm's costs of capital as it uses additional financial leverage, and how that relates to the overall riskiness of the firm. The measure is used to summarize the effects this type of leverage has on a firm's cost of capital (over and above the cost of capital as if the firm had no debt). The equation is: Hamada Equation Investopedia Says Investopedia explains 'Hamada Equation' The equation is used to determine the effects of financial leverage on a firm, as measured by the Hamada coefficient. The higher the coefficient, the higher the risk associated with the firm. For example, say a firm has a debt to equity ratio of 0.60, a tax rate of 33%, and a debt free beta of 0.95. The Hamada coefficient would be about 1.33 {0.95[1+(1-0.33)(0.60)]}. This means that financial leverage, for this firm, increases the overall risk by a factor of 0.38, or by 40%. This equation quantifies the effects financial leverage has on a firm, and can serve as a quick and dirty analysis of a firm's overall business risk as it relates to the returns from the market overall.