Question

Assume a company has a cost of capital that is greater than zero and has cash flows related to the changes in net working capital as follows: Year 0 = -10,000, Year 1 = +4,000, Year 2 = +4,000, Year 3 = +2,000 Given the above information, if NWC requirements doubled (i.e. each year's NWC were twice as much), what would be the impact on NPV? O A Decrease B. Increase c. No impact The information provided is insufficient to make a decision.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Decrease

Explanation:

In investment appraisal with the method of Net Present Value, the bone of contention and the central matter is the TIME VALUE OF MONEY.

In the above scenario, the initial working capital was 100% released in proportions of 40%, 40% and 20%, throughout the 3 years of the project. However, if the reverse had been the case, i.e. parting with more cash now and the requirement of working capital now becomes: Year 0 = -10,000, Year 1 = - 10,000, Year 2 = -10,000, Year 3 = +30,000; the NPV would definitely shrink because the value of 10,000 each in Years 0-2 would not be the same when it is recovered from the project in year 3. The value will be smaller and hence the NPV of the project would have decreased as a result of the time value of money.