Exam 10: The Basics of Capital Budgeting: Evaluating Cash Flows

Conflicts between two mutually exclusive projects occasionally occur, where the NPV method ranks one project higher but the IRR method ranks the other one first. In theory, such conflicts should be resolved in favor of the project with the higher positive IRR.

Hindelang Inc. is considering a project that has the following cash flow and WACC data. What is the project's MIRR? Note that a project's MIRR can be less than the WACC (and even negative), in which case it will be rejected.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? Assume that the project being considered has normal cash flows, with one outflow followed by a series of inflows.

Barry Company is considering a project that has the following cash flow and WACC data. What is the project's NPV? Note that a project's expected NPV can be negative, in which case it will be rejected.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? Assume that all projects being considered have normal cash flows and are equally risky.

You are on the staff of Camden Inc. The CFO believes project acceptance should be based on the NPV, but Steve Camden, the president, insists that no project should be accepted unless its IRR exceeds the project's risk-adjusted WACC. Now you must make a recommendation on a project that has a cost of $15,000 and two cash flows: $110,000 at the end of Year 1 and -$100,000 at the end of Year 2. The president and the CFO both agree that the appropriate WACC for this project is 10%. At 10%, the NPV is $2,355.37, but you find two IRRs, one at 6.33% and one at 527%, and a MIRR of 11.32%. Which of the following statements best describes your optimal recommendation, i.e., the analysis and recommendation that is best for the company and least likely to get you in trouble with either the CFO or the president?

Under certain conditions, a project may have more than one IRR. One such condition is when, in addition to the initial investment at time = 0, a negative cash flow (or cost) occurs at the end of the project's life.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

A firm is considering Projects S and L, whose cash flows are shown below. These projects are mutually exclusive, equally risky, and not repeatable. The CEO wants to use the IRR criterion, while the CFO favors the NPV method. You were hired to advise the firm on the best procedure. If the wrong decision criterion is used, how much potential value would the firm lose?

For a project with one initial cash outflow followed by a series of positive cash inflows, the modified IRR (MIRR) method involves compounding the cash inflows out to the end of the project's life, summing those compounded cash flows to form a terminal value (TV), and then finding the discount rate that causes the PV of the TV to equal the project's cost.

Suppose a firm relies exclusively on the payback method when making capital budgeting decisions, and it sets a 4-year payback regardless of economic conditions. Other things held constant, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

Simms Corp. is considering a project that has the following cash flow data. What is the project's IRR? Note that a project's IRR can be less than the WACC or negative, in both cases it will be rejected.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Tuttle Enterprises is considering a project that has the following cash flow and WACC data. What is the project's NPV? Note that if a project's expected NPV is negative, it should be rejected.

Ingram Electric Products is considering a project that has the following cash flow and WACC data. What is the project's MIRR? Note that a project's MIRR can be less than the WACC (and even negative), in which case it will be rejected.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

The primary reason that the NPV method is conceptually superior to the IRR method for evaluating mutually exclusive investments is that multiple IRRs may exist, and when that happens, we don't know which IRR is relevant.

Last month, Lloyd's Systems analyzed the project whose cash flows are shown below. However, before the decision to accept or reject the project took place, the Federal Reserve changed interest rates and therefore the firm's WACC. The Fed's action did not affect the forecasted cash flows. By how much did the change in the WACC affect the project's forecasted NPV? Note that a project's expected NPV can be negative, in which case it should be rejected.

If you were evaluating two mutually exclusive projects for a firm with a zero cost of capital, the payback method and NPV method would always lead to the same decision on which project to undertake.

Westchester Corp. is considering two equally risky, mutually exclusive projects, both of which have normal cash flows. Project A has an IRR of 11%, while Project B's IRR is 14%. When the WACC is 8%, the projects have the same NPV. Given this information, which of the following statements is CORRECT?