Following are the factors that affect the capital structure of a company :
Cost of Equity : Another factor which helps in deciding capital structure is cost of equity. Owners or equity shareholders expect a return on their investment i.e., earning per share. As far as debt is increasing earning per share (EPS), then we can include it in capital structure but w hen EPS starts decreasing with inclusion of debt then we must depend upon equity share capital only.
Floatation Costs: Floatation cost is the cost involved in the issue of shares or debentures. These costs include the cost of advertisement, underwriting statutoryfees etc. It is a major consideration for small companies but even large companies cannot ignore this factor because along with cost there are many legal formalities to be completed before entering into capital market. Issue of shares, debentures requires more formalities as well as more floatation cost. Whereas there is less cost involved in raising capital by loans or advances.
Risk Consideration : Financial risk refers to a position when a company is unable to meet its fixed financial charges such as interest, preference dividend, payment to creditors etc. Apart from financial risk business has some operating risk also. It depends upon operating cost, higher operating cost means higher business risk. The total risk depends upon both financial as well as business risk. If firm’s business risk is low then it can raise more capital by issue of debt securities where as at the time of high business risk it should depend upon equity.
Flexibility: Excess of debt may restrict the firm’s capacity to borrow further. To maintain flexibility it must maintain some borrowing power to take care of unforeseen circumstances.