In: Finance
Lou Barlow, a divisional manager for Sage Company, has an opportunity to manufacture and sell one of two new products for a five-year period. His annual pay raises are determined by his division’s return on investment (ROI), which has exceeded 25% each of the last three years. He has computed the cost and revenue estimates for each product as follows:
| Product A | Product B | ||||
| Initial investment: | |||||
| Cost of equipment (zero salvage value) | $ | 340,000 | $ | 540,000 | |
| Annual revenues and costs: | |||||
| Sales revenues | $ | 390,000 | $ | 490,000 | |
| Variable expenses | $ | 176,000 | $ | 226,000 | |
| Depreciation expense | $ | 68,000 | $ | 108,000 | |
| Fixed out-of-pocket operating costs | $ | 84,000 | $ | 64,000 | |
| The company’s discount rate is 18%. | 
| 
 Click here to view Exhibit 13B-1 and Exhibit 13B-2, to determine the appropriate discount factor using tables.  | 
| Required: | 
| 1. | 
 Calculate the payback period for each product. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)  | 
| 2. | 
 Calculate the net present value for each product. (Round discount factor(s) to 3 decimal places.)  | 
| 3. | 
 Calculate the internal rate of return for each product. (Round percentage answer to 1 decimal place. i.e. 0.1234 should be considered as 12.3% and Round discount factor(s) to 3 decimal places.)  | 
| 4. | 
 Calculate the project profitability index for each product. (Round discount factor(s) to 3 decimal places. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)  | 
| 5. | 
 Calculate the simple rate of return for each product. (Round percentage answer to 1 decimal place. i.e. 0.1234 should be considered as 12.3%.)  | 
| 6a. | 
 For each measure, identify whether Product A or Product B is preferred.  | 
| 6b. | 
 Based on the simple rate of return, Lou Barlow would likely:  | 
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