Question

Companies invest in expansion projects with the expectation of increasing the earnings of its business. Consider the case of Falcon Freight: Falcon Freight is considering an investment that will have the following sales, variable costs, and fixed operating costs: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Unit sales (units) 3,500 4,000 4,200 4,250 Sales price $38.50 $39.88 $40.15 $41.55 Variable cost per unit $22.34 $22.85 $23.67 $23.87 Fixed operating costs except depreciation $37,000 $37,500 $38,120 $39,560 Accelerated depreciation rate 33% 45% 15% 7% This project will require an investment of $25,000 in new equipment. The equipment will have no salvage value at the end of the project’s four-year life. Falcon Freight pays a constant tax rate of 40%, and it has a required rate of return of 11%. When using accelerated depreciation, the project’s net present value (NPV) is . (Hint: Round each element in your computation—including the project’s net present value—to the nearest whole dollar.) When using straight-line depreciation, the project’s NPV is . (Hint: Again, round each element in your computation—including the project’s net present value—to the nearest whole dollar.) Using the depreciation method will result in the greater NPV for the project. No other firm would take on this project if Falcon Freight turns it down. How much should Falcon Freight reduce the NPV of this project if it discovered that this project would reduce one of its division’s net after-tax cash flows by $600 for each year of the four-year project? $1,396 $1,861 $2,047 $1,582 Falcon Freight spent $1,500.00 on a marketing study to estimate the number of units that it can sell each year. What should Falcon Freight do to take this information into account? The company does not need to do anything with the cost of the marketing study because the marketing study is a sunk cost. Increase the amount of the initial investment by $1,500.00. Increase the NPV of the project $1,500.00.

Answer 1

When using accelerated depreciation, project's NPV is $36,372 as shown below

Formula sheet is pasted below

Now with straight line depreciation. The only change in formula is in depreciation line where we put 25% for each year and then calculate the NPV of the project which comes out to be $35,945 as shown below

As seen, the accelerated depreciation results in greater NPV of the project

Now if the after tax cash flows are reduced by $600 for each of the 4 years, the NPV is reduced to $34,510 (from $36,372 initially). So this is a reduction of $1862. Hence choice B is the correct answer

Marketing cost: The company need not do anything as the study cost is a sunk cost. Whether or not the project is undertaken, that cost is already incurred