NPV Irr
NPV Irr
NPV Irr
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9
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A
B
C
NPV RULE FOR CAPITAL BUDGETING
Choose a project if it costs less than the PV of its cash flows. More generally:
take a project if its Net Present Value is positive.
EXAMPLE
Interest rate
Year
Cash flow
PV factor
PV of cash flow
Cumulative PV
Net Present Value
10%
0
(600)
100%
(600)
(600)
123
200
91%
182
(418)
200
83%
165
(253)
500
75%
376
123
Investors would have to invest 123 more (a total of 723) to get the cash flows of 200, 200,
and 500 at an interest rate of 10%. Therefore the project has a value of 123 for investors.
The interest rate is called the cost of capital, because it is the opportunity cost of funds - the
rate investors can earn on alternative investments.
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A
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IRR RULE
NPV > 0
Choose a project
if and only if
if and only if
Standard means
- cash outflows occur in early years and cash inflows in later years.
- the alternative to the project is the status quo.
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D
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F
G
NONSTANDARD PROJECTS MAY HAVE MORE THAN ONE INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN
Cost of capital
Year
Net cash flow
PV factor
PV of net cash flow
Cumulative PV
Net present value
IRR (Internal Rate of Return)
12%
0
(400,000)
100%
(400,000)
(400,000)
1,148
960,000 (572,000)
89%
80%
857,143 (455,995)
457,143
1,148
10%
For this project, varying the initial guess in the IRR function can cause the IRR to change.
This is a good project (positive NPV), but you can't tell it from the IRR function. The following
chart shows that there are two break-even costs of capital or IRR's. The NPV is positive at the
actual cost of capital (12%), so it is a good project.
Page 3
0
(400,000)
Discount Rate
NPV
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
22%
24%
26%
28%
30%
32%
34%
36%
38%
40%
(8,612)
(5,769)
(3,418)
(1,509)
1,148
1,970
2,497
2,758
2,778
2,580
2,185
1,612
879
(1,010)
(2,139)
(3,374)
(4,705)
(6,122)
D
1
2
960,000 (572,000)
4,000
2,000
-
Ne t Pre se nt Value
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23
24
25
A
Year
Net cash flow
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B
C
D
E
AN EXAMPLE OF MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE PROJECTS
Cost of capital
10%
Year
Project A
Cash flow
PV factor
PV of cash flow
NPV
IRR
(10,000)
100%
(10,000)
8,182
100%
20,000
91%
18,182
Project B
Cash flow
PV factor
PV of cash flow
NPV
IRR
(20,000)
100%
(20,000)
11,818
75%
35,000
91%
31,818
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B
C
D
E
PROJECTS CAN BE VALUED ON AN INCREMENTAL BASIS
Cost of capital
10%
Year
Project A
Cash flow
PV factor
PV of cash flow
NPV
(10,000)
100%
(10,000)
8,182
20,000
91%
18,182
Project B-A
Cash flow
PV factor
PV of cash flow
NPV
(10,000)
100%
(10,000)
3,636
15,000
91%
13,636
Project B has a positive NPV relative to A (on an incremental basis) so should be taken.
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