In: Finance
You are asked to value a five-year project to build and sell a household-use laser-guided cockroach search and destroy system. Unit sales are forecasted to be 65,000 units per year. The product will sell for $90 per unit and cost $50 per unit to produce. Other fixed costs are $550,000 per year. Revenues and costs are realized at year-end. The project will be terminated at the end of 5 years. The project requires an immediate investment of $500,000 in working capital. Working capital at the end of years 1 through 4 is equal to 10% of sales. Working capital at the end of year 5 is zero. The equipment necessary to begin production will cost a total of $6,000,000 immediately. This equipment is depreciated to an ending book value of $1,000,000 for tax purposes using the straight-line method over ten years. You assume you can sell the equipment for $4,000,000 after five years. The relevant tax rate (federal plus state) is 25%. The project has a 15% required return. What is the project’s NPV?