- Question 2 5 8 Bp A Uk Energy Company Has Just Signed A Contract On 1st June 2020 To Import 5 500 000 Of Raw Material 1 (140.39 KiB) Viewed 9 times
Question 2 5/8 BP, a UK energy
company, has just signed a contract on 1st June 2020 to import $5,500,000 of raw materials from a US
company. The payment is due in six months' time. The board of BP expect a steep depreciation of Sterling against $, hence they are considering two alternative ways to hedge their exposure. A forward hedge A futures hedge Market Data at 1st June 2020: Exchange rates: Spot 6-month Forward i. ii. Currency futures: CME £62,500 Dec 2020 Contract (cash-settled): $1.24/£ Interest rates (borrowing and lending): UK 1% per annum US 2% per annum The future spot exchange rate is expected to move to either of the following rates: GBP/USD 1.1244 GBP/USD 1.3322 $1.25/£ $1.23/£ 4 CONTINUES NEXT PAGE Evaluate the performance of the two alternative hedging methods in 3 months' time given the two future spot rates scenarios expected by the
company, and by answering the following
questions: a) In both scenarios, if Mechanics Ltd uses futures contracts, explain the following: How many contracts the
company must Sell or Buy? [3 marks] Does the
company need to sell or buy the £ futures contract? Explain [3 marks] What is the gain/loss in number of ticks if the
company hedges with futures contracts? How much is the gain/loss translated into £? [6 marks] What is the total payable amount for the
company after hedging with futures contracts? Briefly explain your results. [5 marks] [Total a) 17 Marks)