Changes of the interest rates and their impact in the capital structures of the companies

There are two main sources of finances of companies: the equity and the debt. But what will be the optimal proportion between the debt and the equity, it still remains problematic. The proportion between the debt and the equity is known as capital structure, which is a combination of long-term loans, ordinary shares and preferred stock of the company. The optimal capital structure is the balance of the risk and the return, in which case is achieved the maximizing of the shares. The debt contains the long-term loans or obligation, while the capital contains the shares capital, shares premium, reserves and retained earnings. So, a company can finance its activities through debts and/or with equity. In this paper we will analyze the capital structures of a few companies in the Republic of Macedonia which are listed in the stock exchange of Macedonia and the changing of the structure depending in the interest rates, and the factors which have an impact in the capital structure