Topic 4 - Making Capital Investment Decision (1)

4 Making Capital Investment Decisions

6-1 Key Concepts and Skills

  • Importance of determining relevant cash flows for capital investments.

  • Computation of depreciation expense for tax purposes.

  • Incorporation of inflation in capital budgeting decisions.

  • Understanding various methods for calculating operating cash flow.

  • Evaluation of special cases in discounted cash flow analysis.

6-2 Incremental Cash Flows

  • Cash flows are critical, not just accounting earnings.

  • Sunk Costs: Past costs that should not affect current decisions.

  • Opportunity Costs: Foregone benefits from alternatives should be considered.

  • Side Effects: Includes both cannibalism (reduction in existing products' sales) and erosion (negative impacts on other revenue streams).

  • Taxes: Focus on after-tax incremental cash flows.

  • Inflation: Must be factored into cash flow estimates.

6-3 Cash Flows vs. Accounting Income

  • Corporate finance relies on cash flows, whereas financial accounting focuses on profit.

  • Cash flow reflects real timing and costs of transactions.

  • Accounting profits do not indicate actual cash availability.

6-4 Characteristics of Incremental Cash Flows

  • Sunk Costs: Not relevant to future decisions.

  • Opportunity Costs: Must evaluate alternatives; a project with positive NPV may still be less favorable if a better option exists.

  • Depreciation Expense: Non-cash item but important for tax impact.

6-5 Side Effects of Cash Flows

  • Erosion is detrimental; necessitates acknowledgment of decreased demand for existing products.

  • Favorable synergies from a new product idea should also be assessed.

6-6 Estimating Cash Flows

  • Operating Cash Flow Formula: OCF = EBIT – Taxes + Depreciation.

  • Consideration for net capital spending and Salvage Value post-tax.

  • Account for changes in net working capital throughout project life.

6-7 Relevance of Interest Payments and Financing Costs

  • Interest and financing costs are irrelevant; required return accounts for funding costs.

  • Depreciation: Relevant for tax purposes even though it's a non-cash expense.

  • Taxes must be considered on an after-tax basis.

6-8 Components of Capital Budgeting Steps

  1. Initial Investment: Cash outflow at time zero for the project.

  2. Operating Cash Inflows: Incremental after-tax cash inflows over the project’s life.

  3. Terminal Cash Flow: After-tax non-operating cash flow at the project’s end, related to liquidation.

6-9 Calculating Initial Outlay

  • Initial Outlay includes immediate cash outflow to acquire the asset and mobilize it (purchase costs, setup, installation, etc.).

6-10 Annual Cash Flow Calculation

  • Annual cash flows are the net incremental cash flows resulting from the project.

  • IMPORTANT: Reflects all revenues, costs, taxes, and depreciation adjustments.

6-11 Terminal Cash Flow at Project's End

  • Cash flow from project liquidation at its economic life's end is considered.

  • **Tax Implications:

    • If Sale = Book Value: No tax effect.

    • If Sale > Book Value: Tax due on capital gain.

    • If Sale < Book Value: Tax refund as capital loss.**

6-12 After-tax Salvage Value

  • Calculated by considering tax effects due to differences between salvage and book value.

6-13 Capital Budgeting Steps: Evaluate Cash Flows

  • Breakdown of initial outlay, annual cash flows, and terminal cash flows.

6-14 Terminal Cash Flow, Example Breakdown

  • Example calculations showcasing the terminal cash flow including salvage value, tax impacts, and annual flows are provided for nuanced understanding.

6-15 Project NPV Evaluation

  • Demonstration of NPV calculations to establish project acceptability based on cash flows (initial, annual, terminal) against discount rate.

6-16 Problem Solving in NPV/IRR

  • Example projects with cost evaluations, cash flow analysis, and detailed calculations leading to NPV and IRR results are given.

6-17 NPV and IRR Calculation Summary

  • Concludes with a summary of NPV and IRR calculations showcasing project viability based on financial analysis.