Kapitalstrúktúr

Kapitalstrúktúr refers to the specific mix of debt and equity a company uses to finance its operations and growth. It is a fundamental concept in corporate finance that impacts a firm's financial risk, cost of capital, and overall valuation. Essentially, it's about how a company raises money to fund its assets. The two primary components of a capital structure are debt, which involves borrowing money that must be repaid with interest, and equity, which represents ownership in the company.

Companies can choose to fund themselves entirely through equity, entirely through debt, or, more commonly, through a combination of both. The optimal capital structure aims to minimize the company's weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which is the average rate of return a company expects to pay to its security holders to finance its assets. A higher proportion of debt generally leads to higher financial leverage, which can magnify returns for shareholders during good times but also increases the risk of bankruptcy if the company cannot meet its debt obligations. Conversely, a company with a higher proportion of equity is generally considered less risky but may have a higher cost of capital. Various theories, such as the Modigliani-Miller theorem, explore the relationship between capital structure and firm value, although these theories often rely on certain assumptions that may not hold true in real-world markets.