Question

“I know headquarters wants us to add that new product line,” said Dell Havasi, manager of Billings Company’s Office Products Division. “But I want to see the numbers before I make any move. Our division’s return on investment (ROI) has led the company for three years, and I don’t want any letdown.”

Billings Company is a decentralized wholesaler with five autonomous divisions. The divisions are evaluated on the basis of ROI, with year-end bonuses given to the divisional managers who have the highest ROIs. Operating results for the company’s Office Products Division for this year are given below:

Sales	$	22,835,000
Variable expenses		14,297,200
Contribution margin		8,537,800
Fixed expenses		6,190,000
Net operating income	$	2,347,800
Divisional average operating assets	$	4,000,000

The company had an overall return on investment (ROI) of 17.00% this year (considering all divisions). Next year the Office Products Division has an opportunity to add a new product line that would require an additional investment that would increase average operating assets by $2,755,000. The cost and revenue characteristics of the new product line per year would be:

Sales	$9,915,000
Variable expenses	65% of sales
Fixed expenses	$2,607,450

Required:

1. Compute the Office Products Division’s ROI for this year.

2. Compute the Office Products Division’s ROI for the new product line by itself.

3. Compute the Office Products Division’s ROI for next year assuming that it performs the same as this year and adds the new product line.

4. If you were in Dell Havasi’s position, would you accept or reject the new product line?

5. Why do you suppose headquarters is anxious for the Office Products Division to add the new product line?

6. Suppose that the company’s minimum required rate of return on operating assets is 14% and that performance is evaluated using residual income.

a. Compute the Office Products Division’s residual income for this year.

b. Compute the Office Products Division’s residual income for the new product line by itself.

c. Compute the Office Products Division’s residual income for next year assuming that it performs the same as this year and adds the new product line.

d. Using the residual income approach, if you were in Dell Havasi’s position, would you accept or reject the new product line?

Answer 1

Net product line net operating income = 9915000*(1-65%)-2607450= $862800
Margin = Net operating income/Sales
Turnover = Sales/Operating assets
ROI = Margin*Turnover
	Present	New line	Total
Sales	22835000	9915000	32750000
Net operating income	2347800	862800	3210600
Operating assets	4000000	2755000	6755000
Margin	10.28%	8.70%	9.80%
Turnover	5.71	3.60	4.85
ROI	58.70%	31.32%	47.53%
1
ROI for this year = 58.70%
2
ROI for new product line by itself = 31.32%
3
ROI for next year = 47.53%
4
Reject, as ROI decreases
5
Adding the new product line would increase company's overall ROI
6
	Present	New line	Total
Operating assets	4000000	2755000	6755000
Minimum required return	14%	14%	14%
Minimum Net operating income	560000	385700	945700
Actual Net operating income	2347800	862800	3210600
Minimum Net operating income	560000	385700	945700
Residual income	1787800	477100	2264900
a
Residual income for this year = 1787800
b
Residual income for new product line = 477100
c
Residual income for next year = 2264900
d
Accept, as residual income increases