1
P.V. VISWANATH
FOR A FIRST COURSE IN FINANCE
2
 Decision Criteria
 NPV
 The Payback Rule
 Accounting Rate of Return
 IRR
 Mutually Exclusive Projects
 The case of multiple IRRs
 Capital Rationing and Profitability Index
3
 We need to ask ourselves the following questions
when evaluating decision criteria



Does the decision rule adjust for the time value of money?
Does the decision rule adjust for risk?
Does the decision rule provide information on whether we
are creating value for the firm?
 We will look at these questions for each one of
our decision criteria.
P.V. Viswanath
4
 Suppose you are looking at a new project and you have
estimated the following cash flows:





Year 0:
CF = -165,000
Year 1:
CF = 63,120; Net Income (NI) = 13,620
Year 2:
70,800; NI = 3,300
Year 3:
91,080; NI = 29,100
Average Book Value = 72,000
 Your required return for assets of this risk is 12%.
 How would you go about deciding whether to accept
this project or not?
 Let’s look at how the different decision criteria would
go about it.
 Let’s start with Net Present Value
P.V. Viswanath
5
 The NPV of a project is essentially the difference between
the market value of a project and its cost
 It answers the question: how much value is created from
undertaking an project?



The first step is to estimate the expected future cash flows.
The second step is to estimate the required return for projects of
this risk level.
The third step is to find the present value of the cash flows and
subtract the initial investment.
P.V. Viswanath
6
 If the NPV is positive, accept the project
 A positive NPV means that the project is expected to
add value to the firm and will therefore increase the
wealth of the owners.
 Since our goal is to increase owner wealth, NPV is a
direct measure of how well this project will meet our
goal.
 One advantage of NPV is that it is an additive measure:

P.V. Viswanath
If there are two projects A and B, then NPV(A and B) = NPV(A)
+ NPV(B).
7
 Turning back to our project, we discount the cash
flows at the required rate of return and find:

NPV = 63,120/(1.12) + 70,800/(1.12)2 + 91,080/(1.12)3 –
165,000 = 12,627.42
 Do we accept or reject the project?
 Since the NPV > 0, accepting the project would
increase firm value by 12,627.42 and we accept
the project.
P.V. Viswanath
8
 The NPV rule accounts for the time value of
money.
 The NPV rule accounts for the risk of the cash
flows.
 The NPV rule provides an indication about the
increase in value.
 The NPV rule satisfies all our criteria for a good
decision rule.
P.V. Viswanath
9
 The payback rule asks the question: how long
does it take to get the initial cost back in a
nominal sense?
 Computation


Estimate the cash flows
Subtract the future cash flows from the initial cost until
the initial investment has been recovered
 Decision Rule – Accept if the payback
period is less than some preset limit
P.V. Viswanath
10
 Assume we will accept the project if it pays back
within two years.




Year 1: 165,000 – 63,120 = 101,880 still to recover
Year 2: 101,880 – 70,800 = 31,080 still to recover
Year 3: 31,080 – 91,080 = -60,000
The project pays back fully in year 3
 Do we accept or reject the project?
 In this case, we reject the project because the
payback is greater than two years.
P.V. Viswanath
11
 Advantages
 Easy to understand
 Adjusts for uncertainty of
later cash flows
 Biased towards liquidity
P.V. Viswanath
 Disadvantages
 Ignores the time value of money
 Requires an arbitrary cutoff point
 Ignores cash flows beyond the
cutoff date
 Biased against long-term projects,
such as research and
development, and new projects
12
 We usually assume that the same discount rate is
applied to all cash flows. Let di be the discount factor
for a cash flow at time i, implied by a constant discount
rate, r, where . Then di+1/di = 1+r, a constant.
However, if the riskiness of successive cash flows is
greater, then the ratio of discount factors would take
into account the passage of time as well as this
increased riskiness.
 In such a case, the discount factor may drop off to zero
more quickly than if the discount rate were constant.
Given the simplicity of the payback method, it may be
appropriate in such a situation.
P.V. Viswanath
13
Discount factor

Discount factor function implied by
the payback period rule
Discount factor function implied by
a constant discount rate
True discount factor function
0
Timing of cash flow
P.V. Viswanath

14
 There are many different definitions for average
accounting return
 The one we use is:
Average net income / average book value
 Note that the average book value depends on how the
asset is depreciated.

 Need to have a target cutoff rate
 Decision Rule: Accept the project if the AAR
is greater than a preset rate.
P.V. Viswanath
15
 Assume we require an average accounting return
of 25%
 Average Net Income:

(13,620 + 3,300 + 29,100) / 3 = 15,340
 AAR = 15,340 / 72,000 = .213 = 21.3%
 Do we accept or reject the project?
 In this case, we reject the project because its AAR
is less than the cutoff of 25%.
P.V. Viswanath
16
 Advantages
 Easy to calculate
 Needed information will
usually be available
P.V. Viswanath
 Disadvantages
 Not a true rate of return;
time value of money is
ignored
 Uses an arbitrary
benchmark cutoff rate
 Based on accounting net
income and book values,
not cash flows and market
values
17
 This is the most important alternative to NPV
 It is often used in practice and is intuitively
appealing
 It is based entirely on the estimated cash flows
and is independent of interest rates found
elsewhere
P.V. Viswanath
18
 Definition: IRR is the discount rate that makes
the NPV = 0
 Decision Rule: Accept the project if the IRR
is greater than the required return
P.V. Viswanath
If we compute the NPVs of the project at different discount rates,
and plot them, we see that the IRR of this project is 16.13%.
70,000
IRR = 16.13% because NPV=0 at
that discount rate. It is the point
where the NPV profile cuts the Xaxis.
60,000
50,000
NPV
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
-10,000 0
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
0.1
0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18
0.2
-20,000
Discount Rate
P.V. Viswanath
19
0.22
20
 If we do not have a financial calculator, then this




becomes a trial and error process.
However, financial calculators and spreadsheet
programs usually have functions that compute the
IRR.
Excel, for example, has an IRR function.
Do we accept or reject the project?
Since the IRR of 16.13% is greater than the required
rate of return of 12%, we accept the project.
P.V. Viswanath
21
 Knowing a return is intuitively appealing.
 It is a simple way to communicate the value of a
project to someone who doesn’t know all the
estimation details.
 If the IRR is high enough, you may not need to
estimate a required return, which is often a
difficult task.
 Can be used to gauge sensitivity of project value
to errors in estimation of the discount rate.
P.V. Viswanath
Summary
Net Present Value
Accept
Payback Period
Reject
Average Accounting Return
Reject
Internal Rate of Return
Accept
P.V. Viswanath
22
23
 NPV and IRR will generally give us the same
decision
 Exceptions


Non-conventional cash flows – cash flow signs change more
than once
Mutually exclusive projects
 What do we do if there is a conflict?
 NPV directly measures the increase in value to the
firm. Hence whenever there is a conflict between
NPV and another decision rule, you should always
use NPV.
P.V. Viswanath
24
 When the cash flows change sign more than
once, there is more than one IRR
 When you solve for IRR you are solving for the
root of an equation and when you cross the x-axis
more than once, there will be more than one
return that solves the equation
 If you have more than one IRR, which one do you
use to make your decision?
P.V. Viswanath
25
 Suppose an investment will cost $90,000 initially
and will generate the following cash flows:



Year 1: 132,000
Year 2: 100,000
Year 3: -150,000
 The required return is 15%.
 Should we accept or reject the project?
 Let us look at the NPV profile.
P.V. Viswanath
IRR = 10.11% and 42.66%
$4,000.00
$2,000.00
NPV
$0.00
($2,000.00)
0
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55
($4,000.00)
($6,000.00)
($8,000.00)
($10,000.00)
Discount Rate
P.V. Viswanath
26
27
 If you compute the NPV, you would find it is positive





at a required return of 15%, so you should Accept
If you compute the IRR using a calculator, you would
probably get an IRR of 10.11% which would tell you
to Reject
What do you do, now?
You need to recognize that there are nonconventional cash flows and look at the NPV profile.
In this case, we see that there are two IRRs!
The right decision using IRR is not so easy!
P.V. Viswanath
28
 Mutually exclusive projects
 If you choose one, you can’t choose the other
 Example: You can choose to attend graduate school next
year at either Harvard or Stanford, but not both
 Intuitively you would use the following decision
rules:


NPV – choose the project with the higher NPV
IRR – choose the project with the higher IRR
 But look at the following project
P.V. Viswanath
Period
Project A
Project B
0
-500
-400
1
325
325
2
325
200
IRR
19.43%
22.17%
NPV
64.05
60.74
P.V. Viswanath
The required
return for both
projects is 10%.
Which project
should you
accept and why?
29
30
 One way to deal with this problem is to consider
project B as accepted, tentatively, and then to ask if
it’s worthwhile switching to project A.
Period Project Project Switch from  Looking at the associated
A
B
B to A
incremental cashflows, we
see that it’s better to
0
-500
-400
-100
switch. That is, A is better
1
325
325
0
than B, which is what the
2
325
200
125
NPV rule tell us. By
IRR
19.43% 22.17% 11.8%
looking at NPV profiles,
we can see why the IRR
NPV
64.05
60.74
3.30
rule behaves as it does.
$160.00
IRR for A = 19.43%
NPV
$140.00
$120.00
IRR for B = 22.17%
$100.00
Crossover Point = 11.8%
$80.00
A
B
$60.00
$40.00
$20.00
$0.00
($20.00) 0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
($40.00)
Discount Rate
IRR assumes reinvestment of positive cash flows during the project at the
same calculated IRR. When positive cash flows cannot be reinvested back into
the project, IRR overstates returns. That’s why at low discount rates, the
higher IRR project looks bad from an NPV standpoint.
P.V. Viswanath
31
32
 Measures the benefit per unit cost, based on the
time value of money
 It is computed as the NPV of the project divided
by initial investment.
 A profitability index of 1.1 implies that for every
$1 of investment, we create an additional $0.10
in value
 This measure can be very useful in situations
where we have limited capital
P.V. Viswanath
33
 Advantages
 Closely related to NPV,
generally leading to
identical decisions
 Easy to understand and
communicate
 May be useful when
available investment funds
are limited
P.V. Viswanath
 Disadvantages
 May lead to incorrect
decisions in comparisons of
mutually exclusive
investments
34
 We should consider several investment criteria when making decisions
 NPV and IRR are the most commonly used primary investment criteria
 Payback is a commonly used secondary investment criteria; this may
be because short paybacks allow firms to have funds sooner to invest in
other projects without going to the capital markets
 Even though payback and AAR should not be used to make the final
decision, we should consider the project very carefully if they suggest
rejection. There may be more risk than we have considered or we may
want to pay additional attention to our cash flow estimations.
Sensitivity and scenario analysis can be used to help us evaluate our
cash flows.
 From a logical point of view, NPV is best and should be used if
possible.
P.V. Viswanath