Question about building a model for interview

I've been asked to build a model for an interview in M&A. There are a couple questions I have. I'm supposed to project out the financial statements for 5 years, and they've provided the WACC, capex and NWC as a % of sales. Then I'm supposed to give 2 valuation methodologies.

  1. I've been given an income statement, where the business pays interest expense, but no debt balance has been provided- how do I model interest expense going forwards? I can't do an FCFF valuation if I can't project out the interest expense.

  2. Bad debts, bank charges and leases- to me these should all fall under operating expenses under IFRS, but it'd be helpful for someone to clarify

  3. Other than a cash flow valuation, what else can I do? Asset based is impossible without a balance sheet, the company doesn't pay dividends so no DDM, no comparables have been produced either. So I'm kinda stuck on this one.

Thanks

3 Comments
 

We're not here to do your modelling test for you.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Best Response

1.They've given you the WACC so they want you to do a firm valuation, no cost of equity? I presume they want you to value the equity, which would be easy enough if they gave you a debt balance since you'd subtract it off the firm valuation to get the equity. Not sure how to get equity value without debt, if the company is paying debt. I'd be interested in the answer to this too

  1. Bank charges would just be fees I presume so that's opex. Leases depending on whether they're capital or operating, but I'd classify them as opex. You can reclassify the interest and operating expenses if they've given you a breakdown of the leases. Bad debts, I guess would be opex but I'm not sure on this one.

  2. I barely think you have enough detail to do an equity valuation let alone a second valuation. At a minimum without the debt balance you'll need to the cost of equity.

 

Sit mollitia non dolores omnis veritatis est. Nihil omnis minus quia ipsam similique et. Consequatur nam aperiam dolor velit possimus consequatur dolorem. Et aut expedita animi quia nobis perferendis consequuntur. Suscipit laborum aut amet expedita et molestiae maxime. Impedit error ut ipsam vero.

Culpa ut magni consectetur quos neque ea. Accusantium neque molestiae quibusdam animi. Sint dolores tempore qui et et mollitia vero.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”