Read the passage and answer the following questions:

XYZ Textiles Ltd., a mid-sized manufacturer of apparel, is facing several financial management challenges. The company needs to optimize its working capital management due to increasing inventory levels and longer accounts receivable cycles. The current ratio is 1.4, but the quick ratio is low at 0.7, indicating potential liquidity issues.

XYZ Textiles is considering expanding its operations by purchasing new machinery, costing 10 million dollar. The project is expected to generate cash flows of $2 million annually for 7 years. The management is evaluating the project using capital budgeting techniques such as NPV and IRR. The company's cost of capital (WACC) is 9%, and the calculated NPV is positive, while the IRR is 12%, suggesting the project is viable.

The company's capital structure consists of 60% equity and 40% debt. With interest rates rising, the management is weighing whether to increase debt financing to fund the expansion or issue additional equity, which could dilute shareholder control. They are also concerned about maintaining an optimal mix to minimize the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Finally, the company's dividend policy has been a consistent payout of 30% of net income. With expansion plans underway, the management debates whether to cut dividends to retain more earnings for reinvestment or maintain the payout to appease shareholders.

.....................refers to the mix between owners funds and borrowed funds.

Capital Structure

The correct answer is option 2- Capital Structure.

Capital Structure refers to the mix between owners funds and borrowed funds.

Capital structure refers to the mix between owners and borrowed funds. These shall be referred as equity and debt in the subsequent text. It can be calculated as debt-equity ratio i.e., Debt/Equity  or as the proportion of debt out of the total capital i.e., Debt/(Debt + Equity) . Debt and equity differ significantly in their cost and riskiness for the firm. The cost of debt is lower than the cost of equity for a firm because the lender’s risk is lower than the equity shareholder’s risk, since the lender earns an assured return and repayment of capital and, therefore, they should require a lower rate of return. Additionally, interest paid on debt is a deductible expense for computation of tax liability whereas dividends are paid out of after-tax profit. Increased use of debt, therefore is likely to lower the over-all cost of capital of the firm provided that the cost of equity remains unaffected.