Fernandez Industries issued $$500,000$ of zero$-$coupon bonds that mature in $8$ years. The bond issue price is $$312,000.$ Prior to the debt issue, Fernandez had total assets of $$4\mathrm{.}0$ million and total equity of $$2\mathrm{.}4$ million.

First, Calculate Fernandez's debt$-$to$-$equity ratio before and after the bonds are issued.

Then, fill in the blank from dropdown: How did the new borrowing affect the financial leverage of Fernandez? The financial levera ge $\_\_\_($increased$,$ decreased, or remained the same$)\_\_\_$ after the bonds were issued.