經濟學入門：公司是如何融資的？

Large corporations could not have grown to their present size without being able to find innovative ways to raise capital to finance expansion.

大公司如果沒能想方設法籌集到擴展用的資金，是不可能成長到現在的體量的。

Corporations have five primary methods for obtaining that money.

公司籌集這些資金的方式主要有5種。

Issuing Bonds

發行債券

A bond is a written promise to pay back a specific amount of money at a certain date or dates in the future.

一份債券就是一個承諾，它許諾在未來的某一天或者某一段時間償付一筆特定金額的錢。

In the interim, bondHolders receive interest payments at fixed rates on specified dates.

在這之前，債券持有人會在特定日期收到固定利率的利息。

Holders can sell bonds to someone else before they are due.

在債券到期之前，持有人可以把債券賣給其他人。

Corporations benefit by issuing bonds because the interest rates they must pay investors are generally lower than rates for most other types of borrowing and because interest paid on bonds is considered to be a tax-deductible business expense. However, corporations must make interest payments even when they are not showing profits.

公司發行債券是有利可圖的，因爲他們在這種方式中需要向投資人支付的利率比在其他借款方式中都要低，另外也因爲支付給債券的利息被視爲是一種可以免稅的業務支出。只不過，如果公司沒有盈利，他們依舊需要支付利息。

If investors doubt a company's ability to meet its interest obligations, they either will refuse to buy its bonds or will demand a higher rate of interest to compensate them for their increased risk. For this reason, smaller corporations can seldom raise much capital by issuing bonds.

如果投資者懷疑一家公司履行支付利息義務的能力，他們要麼會拒絕買它的債券，要麼會要求一個更高的利率以補償增長的風險。因爲這個原因，小公司很少能通過發行債券來融資。

Issuing Preferred Stock

發行優先股

A company may choose to issue new "preferred" stock to raise capital.

一家公司可以選擇通過發行新的優先股來融資。

Buyers of these shares have special status in the event the underlying company encounters financial trouble.

當相關公司遇到財務問題時，這些股份的購買者享有特殊的權限。

If profits are limited, preferred stock owners will be paid their dividends after bondholders receive their guaranteed interest payments but before any common stock dividends are paid.

如果公司的利潤有限，優先股持有者會在債券持有者獲得所保證的利息之後再獲得他們的股息，這之後普通股持有者纔會獲得他們的股息。

Selling Common Stock

售賣普通股

If a company is in good financial health, it can raise capital by issuing common stock.

如果一家公司的財務狀況很健康，它就能通過發行普通股來融資。

Typically, investment banks help companies issue stock, agreeing to buy any new shares issued at a set price if the public refuses to buy the stock at a certain minimum price.

通常，投資銀行會幫助公司發行債券，如果公衆拒絕以一個特定的最低價格購買這些股份，投資銀行會答應以一個約定的價格購買所有的新股。

Although common shareholders have the exclusive right to elect a corporation's board of directors, they rank behind holders of bonds and preferred stock when it comes to sharing profits.

雖然普通股持有者在選舉公司董事會時也享有專有權，但他們在分享利潤時則排在債券持有者和優先股持有者之後。

Investors are attracted to stocks in two ways. Some companies pay large dividends, offering investors a steady income. But others pay little or no dividends, hoping instead to attract shareholders by improving corporate profitability -- and hence, the value of the shares themselves.

投資者是出於兩種原因被股份吸引的。一些公司會支付大量的股息，爲投資者創造一筆穩定的收入。另一些則僅支付很少的股息，或者不支付股息，他們希望通過提升公司的盈利能力——也就是提升股份本身的價值——來吸引投資者。

In general, the value of shares increases as investors come to expect corporate earnings to rise.

總體來說，當投資者認爲公司的收入會增加，股份的價值也會升高。

Companies whose stock prices rise substantially often "split" the shares, paying each holder, say, one additional share for each share held.

那些股價大幅上升的公司通常會“分割”股份，比如給每個股份的持有人多支付相同的股份。

This does not raise any capital for the corporation, but it makes it easier for stockholders to sell shares on the open market.

這並不會給公司融到更多資金，但是會讓股份持有者更容易在公開市場上交易這些股份。

In a two-for-one split, for instance, the stock's price is initially cut in half, attracting investors.

例如，在一分爲二的分割中，股價一開始減半，這樣就能吸引投資者。

Borrowing

借錢

Companies can also raise short-term capital -- usually to finance inventories -- by getting loans from banks or other lenders.

公司還能通過向銀行或者其他借款人貸款來籌措短期資本，這些款項通常計入財務庫存。

Using Profits

使用利潤

As noted, companies also can finance their operations by retaining their earnings.

正如上面寫的，公司可以通過留存收益來爲自己的運營籌措資金。

Strategies concerning retained earnings vary. Some corporations, especially electric, gas, and other utilities, pay out most of their profits as dividends to their stockholders.

跟留存收益有關的策略有很多。有些企業，特別是電力、天然氣以及其他公共事業單位會用大部分利潤給自己的股份持有者派發股息。

Others distribute, say, 50 percent of earnings to shareholders in dividends, keeping the rest to pay for operations and expansion.

其他公司則可能用50%的利潤給股份持有者派發股息，然後把剩下的用於公司的運營和擴張。

Still, other corporations, often the smaller ones, prefer to reinvest most or all of their net income in research and expansion, hoping to reward investors by rapidly increasing the value of their shares.

還有些其他的公司，通常是較小的公司，傾向於把大部分或者所有淨利潤用於研究和擴張，希望通過儘快提高股價來回饋投資者。

（翻譯：能貓）