Question

Dwight Donovan, the president of Benson Enterprises, is considering two investment opportunities. Because of limited resources, he will be able to invest in only one of them. Project A is to purchase a machine that will enable factory automation; the machine is expected to have a useful life of five years and no salvage value. Project B supports a training program that will improve the skills of employees operating the current equipment. Initial cash expenditures for Project A are $111,000 and for Project B are $43,000. The annual expected cash inflows are $37,116 for Project A and $11,929 for Project B. Both investments are expected to provide cash flow benefits for the next five years. Benson Enterprises’ cost of capital is 8 percent. (PV of $1 and PVA of $1) (Use appropriate factor(s) from the tables provided.) Required Compute the net present value of each project. Which project should be adopted based on the net present value approach? Compute the approximate internal rate of return of each project. Which one should be adopted based on the internal rate of return approach?

Answer 1

Answer:

- Net present value of each project:

Project A:$37,193

Project B:$4,629

=> Project A should be chosen based on NPV approach as its NPV is higher.

- Internal rate of return of each project:

Project A: 20%

Project B: 12%

=>Project A should be chosen based on IRR approach as its IRR is higher

Explanation:

- Net present value calculation:

NPV for Project A: -111,000 + (37,116/0.08) x [1-1.08^(-5)] = $37,193

NPV for Project B: -43,000 + (11,929/0.08) x [1-1.08^(-5)] = $4,629.

- Internal rate of return approach;

IRR is the discount rate that bring NPV of project's cash flows to 0. Thus:

IRR for project A: -111,000 + (37,116/IRR) x [1-(1+IRR)^(-5)] = 0 <=> IRR = 20%

IRR for project B: -43,000 + (11,929/IRR) x [1-(1+IRR)^(-5)] = 0 <=> IRR = 12%