Central Adventures

Fatima Hopkins, the CEO of Central Adventures, is having difficulties with all three of her top management level employees. With one manager making questionable decisions, another threatening to leave, and the third likely ‘in the red’, Fatima is hoping there is a simple answer to all her difficulties, and needs some advice from her accountant on how to proceed.

Central Adventures owns and operates three amusement parks in Michigan: Central Funland, Central Waterworld, and Central Treetops. Central Adventures has a decentralized organizational structure, where each park is run as an investment center. Each park manager meets with the CEO at least once annually to review their performance, as measured by their park’s ROI. The park manager then receives a bonus equal to 10% of their base salary for every ROI percentage point above the required rate.

Central Funland is an outdoor theme park, with twelve roller coaster rides and several other attractions. This park has first opened 1965, and most of the rides have been in operation for 20+ years. Attendance at this park has been relatively stable over the past ten years. The park manager of Funland, Janet Lieberman, recently shared with Fatima a proposal to replace one of their older rides with a new roller coaster, a hybrid steel and wood rollercoaster with a 90 degree, 200 foot drop and three inversions. The proposal indicated that the ride would cost $8,000,000 with an estimated life of 20 years. In addition, this new style of coaster would require additional maintenance, costing $125,000 each year. However, it projected that this new attraction would boost attendance, earning the park an additional $1,190,000 per year in revenues. Janet ultimately decided not to invest in this new attraction.

Central Waterworld is an indoor water park, operating year-round. Run by park manager David Copperfield, Waterworld was built in 2016 and has increased attendance by 20% every year since. David recently sent you an email complaining that, based on the current bonus payout schedule, Janet Lieberman’s bonus last year was significantly higher than his. He points to the increasing attendance, and says that his park is being punished for having opened so recently (his park assets are much more recent than the roller coasters at Funland). He currently has an employment offer from another company at the same pay rate, which he says he will accept if his performance is not appropriately acknowledged.

Central Treetops includes a high ropes course and has a series of ziplines that criss-cross over the Chippewa River. For many years, it was a popular venue for corporate team-building activities, so it is equipped with a main indoor facility with cafeteria and overnight guest rooms. This park has lost popularity in recent years, and has been ‘in the red’ for the past two years. If the park is not profitable this year, you will need to decide whether to close it - permanently. Central Adventures has a $86,000 mortgage payment on the land and buildings for Treetops, which would still need to be paid if the park is closed. Incidentally, you recently had a conversation with the regional head of the YMCA, who would like to open a summer camp in the central Michigan region. If you decided to close Treetops, you are fairly certain that you could lease that land to the YMCA for $250,000 annually.

A partial report of this year’s financial results for Central Adventures shows the following:

In addition to the information above, there are $2,542,920 in corporate costs, which are currently allocated evenly between the three parks. These costs are primarily due to employee benefits costs, which are billed at the corporate level. If the Treetops park is closed, the allocated corporate costs would decrease by $12,000. Central Adventures has a required rate of return of 12 percent (set at the company’s weighted-average cost of capital) and are subject to 18% income taxes.

Fatima needs to see this year’s performance results before she can make any decisions. Is David’s complaint about the performance evaluation metrics valid? Is that also affecting management decisions in the form of Janet’s rejection of the proposed new rollercoaster? And is the company better off without Treetops? She sets off to the company accountant’s office to help get some answers.

a. Create a multilevel income statement for Central Adventures.

b.   Calculate the current annual ROI, residual income and EVA for the three parks.

c. Did Janet Lieberman (the Funland park manager) make the ‘right’ decision (i.e., was it in Central Adventure’s overall best interest for Funland to reject the new rollercoaster)? Explain your answer. Provide the appropriate financial analysis(es) to support your conclusion.

d.   Is David Copperfield’s (the Waterworld park manager) complaint valid? Or would a different performance metric tell the same story?

e. Provide a recommendation on whether to close Treetops. Provide the appropriate financial analysis to support your conclusion.

f.    Provide a recommendation on a different allocation base for corporate overhead.

You are the recently hired CFO of MicroMash.  Bill Bates, the CEO wants your advice on the sale of a new spreadsheet software called Xcellent.  In conjuction with a two week promotion of at Office Depot stores, customers will be able to purchase the software and have the ability to return the item and receive a full refund up until 6 months from the purchase date.  Please discuss the proper accounting treatment for this transaction; 20,000 units were sold in the two week period with a cost of $120.

As the new chief executive officer (CEO), you have put many things in place at the Mucho County Healthcare System, and it has been in operation now for 3 years. Reflect on the work that you have done so far.

What do you think were the major managerial failures at the Mucho County Healthcare System? What could it have done better to command good care outcomes and patient experience?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Faoilean Co has just returned from a discussion at a leading university on the 'application of options to investment decisions and corporate value'. She wants to understand how some of the ideas which were discussed can be applied to decisions made at Faoilean Co. She is still a little unclear about some of the discussion on options and their application, and wants further clarification on the following:

(i) Faoilean Co is involved in the exploration and extraction of oil and gas. Recently there have been indications that there could be significant deposits of oil and gas just off the shores of Ireland. The Government of Ireland has invited companies to submit bids for the rights to commence the initial exploration of the area to assess the likelihood and amount of oil and gas deposits, with further extraction rights to follow. Faoilean Co is considering putting in a bid for the rights. The speaker leading the discussion suggested that using options as an investment assessment tool would be particularly useful to Faoilean Co in this respect.

(ii) The speaker further suggested that options were useful in determining the value of equity and default risk, and suggested that this was why companies facing severe financial distress could still have a positive equity value.

(iii) Towards the end of the discussion, the speaker suggested that changes in the values of options can be measured in terms of a number of risk factors known as the 'greeks', such as the 'vega'. The CEO is unclear why option values are affected by so many different risk factors.

Required With regard to

(ii) above, discuss how options could be useful in determining the value of equity and default risk, and why companies facing severe financial distress still have positive equity values.

You have been asked by the CEO of Gastric Anxiety Supplier (GAS) to evaluate the proposed acquisition of a new Standardized Test Templater (PowerPoint based) for the firm’s accounting area. A recently completed $100,000 marketing survey demonstrates a high demand for the product. The equipment’s basic price is $740,000 and it would cost another $220,000 to modify it for high altitude (Wasatch Mountain) use. The templater, which has a MACRS 3-year recovery period (recovery allowances of 33%, 45%, 15%, and 7% for years 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively), would be sold after 3 years for $200,000. Use of the equipment would require a one-time increase in net working capital (spare parts inventory) of $75,000. The templater would have no effect on revenues, but it is expected to save the firm $440,000 per year in pre-tax operating costs, mainly labor. The firm’s marginal federal-plus-state tax rate is 40 percent.

What is the net operating cash flow in year 3?

You have been asked by the CEO of Gastric Anxiety Supplier (GAS) to evaluate the proposed acquisition of a new Standardized Test Templater (PowerPoint based) for the firm’s accounting area. A recently completed $100,000 marketing survey demonstrates a high demand for the product. The equipment’s basic price is $740,000 and it would cost another $220,000 to modify it for high altitude (Wasatch Mountain) use. The templater, which has a MACRS 3-year recovery period (recovery allowances of 33%, 45%, 15%, and 7% for years 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively), would be sold after 3 years for $200,000. Use of the equipment would require a one-time increase in net working capital (spare parts inventory) of $75,000. The templater would have no effect on revenues, but it is expected to save the firm $440,000 per year in pre-tax operating costs, mainly labor. The firm’s marginal federal-plus-state tax rate is 40 percent.

What is the additional (nonoperating) cash flow in year 3?

Fatima Hopkins, the CEO of Central Adventures, is having difficulties with all three of her top management level employees. With one manager making questionable decisions, another threatening to leave, and the third likely ‘in the red’, Fatima is hoping there is a simple answer to all her difficulties. She is asking you (her accountant) for some advice on how to proceed.

Central Adventures owns and operates three amusement parks in Michigan: Funland, Waterworld, and Treetops. Central Adventures has a decentralized organizational structure, where each park is run as an investment center. Park managers meet with the CEO at least once annually to review their performance, where each park manager’s performance is measured by their park’s return on investment (ROI). The park manager then receives a bonus equal to 10% of their base salary for every ROI percentage point above the cost of capital.

Fatima’s first difficulty is with the Funland park. Funland is an outdoor theme park, with twelve roller coaster rides and several other attractions. This park has first opened 1965, and most of the rides have been in operation for 20+ years. Attendance at this park has been relatively stable over the past ten years. The park manager of Funland, Janet Lieberman, recently shared with Fatima a proposal to replace one of their older rides with a new roller coaster, a hybrid steel and wood roller coaster with a 90 degree, 200 foot drop and three inversions. The proposal indicated that the ride would cost $8,000,000 with an estimated life of 20 years. In addition, this new style of coaster would require additional maintenance and insurance, costing $125,000 each year. However, it projected that this new attraction would boost attendance, earning the park an additional $1,190,000 per year in revenues. Janet ultimately decided not to invest in this new attraction. Fatima (doing a quick mental calculation) saw that the investment had a payback period of eight years—much shorter than the life of the roller coaster—and is perplexed at Janet’s decision.

The second dilemma concerns the Waterworld park. Waterworld is an indoor water park, operating year-round. Run by park manager David Copperfield, Waterworld was built in 2016 and has increased attendance by 20% every year since. David recently sent you an email complaining that, based on the current bonus payout schedule, Janet Lieberman’s bonus last year was significantly higher than his. He points to the increasing attendance, and says that his park is being punished for having opened so recently (his park assets are much more recent than the roller coasters at Funland). He currently has an employment offer from another company at the same base pay rate, which he says he will accept if his performance is not appropriately acknowledged. Fatima needs to look at the relative performance across parks to determine how to proceed with David.

Central Treetops includes a high ropes course and has a series of ziplines that criss-cross over the Chippewa River. For many years, it was a popular venue for corporate team-building activities, so it is equipped with a main indoor facility with cafeteria and overnight guest rooms. This park has lost popularity in recent years, and has been ‘in the red’ for the past two years. If the park is not profitable this year, you will need to decide whether to close it - permanently. Included in the ‘Fixed COGS’ for Treetops is a $86,000 mortgage payment on the land and buildings for the park, which would still need to be paid by Central Adventures if the park is closed. Incidentally, you recently had a conversation with the regional head of the YMCA, who would like to open a summer camp in the central Michigan region. If you decided to close Treetops, you are fairly certain that you could lease that land to the YMCA for $250,000 annually.

A partial report of this year’s financial results for Central Adventures shows the following:

The ‘Selling and administrative costs’ are all incurred directly by each park, and are determined at the beginning of each year (that is, they do not change with the number of tickets sold). In addition to the information above, there are $2,542,920 in corporate costs, which are currently allocated evenly between the three parks. These costs are primarily due to employee benefits costs, which are billed at the corporate level. If the Treetops park is closed, the allocated corporate costs would decrease by $12,000. Central Adventures has a cost of capital of 12 percent (and Fatima uses the cost of capital as their required rate of return) and are subject to 18% income taxes.

Fatima needs to evaluate this year’s performance results before she can make any decisions. Is David’s complaint about the performance evaluation metrics valid? Is that also affecting management decisions in the form of Janet’s rejection of the proposed new rollercoaster? And is the company better off without Treetops? She sets off to the company accountant’s office to help get some answers.

Required:

Write your response in the form of a 1-2 page memo to Fatima Hopkins, from the perspective of the company accountant. Be sure to include all your financial analyses, clearly showing your calculations, to support your conclusions. Be sure to include the following points in your memo, and provide the appropriate financial analysis(es) to support your conclusions.

a. Evaluate Janet Lieberman’s (the Funland park manager) decision. Explain why it was/was not in Central Adventure’s overall best interest for Funland to reject the new rollercoaster.

B. Evaluate the validity of David Copperfield’s (the Waterworld park manager) complaint. Explain why it is (or is not valid), and what further information would be necessary.

Fatima Hopkins, the CEO of Central Adventures, is having difficulties with all three of her top management level employees. With one manager making questionable decisions, another threatening to leave, and the third likely ‘in the red’, Fatima is hoping there is a simple answer to all her difficulties, and needs some advice from her accountant on how to proceed.

Central Adventures owns and operates three amusement parks in Michigan: Central Funland, Central Waterworld, and Central Treetops. Central Adventures has a decentralized organizational structure, where each park is run as an investment center. Each park manager meets with the CEO at least once annually to review their performance, as measured by their park’s ROI. The park manager then receives a bonus equal to 10% of their base salary for every ROI percentage point above the required rate.

Central Funland is an outdoor theme park, with twelve roller coaster rides and several other attractions. This park has first opened 1965, and most of the rides have been in operation for 20+ years. Attendance at this park has been relatively stable over the past ten years. The park manager of Funland, Janet Lieberman, recently shared with Fatima a proposal to replace one of their older rides with a new roller coaster, a hybrid steel and wood rollercoaster with a 90 degree, 200 foot drop and three inversions. The proposal indicated that the ride would cost $8,000,000 with an estimated life of 20 years. In addition, this new style of coaster would require additional maintenance, costing $125,000 each year. However, it projected that this new attraction would boost attendance, earning the park an additional $1,190,000 per year in revenues. Janet ultimately decided not to invest in this new attraction.

Central Waterworld is an indoor water park, operating year-round. Run by park manager David Copperfield, Waterworld was built in 2016 and has increased attendance by 20% every year since. David recently sent you an email complaining that, based on the current bonus payout schedule, Janet Lieberman’s bonus last year was significantly higher than his. He points to the increasing attendance, and says that his park is being punished for having opened so recently (his park assets are much more recent than the roller coasters at Funland). He currently has an employment offer from another company at the same pay rate, which he says he will accept if his performance is not appropriately acknowledged.

Central Treetops includes a high ropes course and has a series of ziplines that criss-cross over the Chippewa River. For many years, it was a popular venue for corporate team-building activities, so it is equipped with a main indoor facility with cafeteria and overnight guest rooms. This park has lost popularity in recent years, and has been ‘in the red’ for the past two years. If the park is not profitable this year, you will need to decide whether to close it - permanently. Central Adventures has a $86,000 mortgage payment on the land and buildings for Treetops, which would still need to be paid if the park is closed. Incidentally, you recently had a conversation with the regional head of the YMCA, who would like to open a summer camp in the central Michigan region. If you decided to close Treetops, you are fairly certain that you could lease that land to the YMCA for $250,000 annually.

A partial report of this year’s financial results for Central Adventures shows the following:

In addition to the information above, there are $2,542,920 in corporate costs, which are currently allocated evenly between the three parks. These costs are primarily due to employee benefits costs, which are billed at the corporate level. If the Treetops park is closed, the allocated corporate costs would decrease by $12,000. Central Adventures has a required rate of return of 12 percent (set at the company’s weighted-average cost of capital) and are subject to 18% income taxes.

Fatima needs to see this year’s performance results before she can make any decisions. Is David’s complaint about the performance evaluation metrics valid? Is that also affecting management decisions in the form of Janet’s rejection of the proposed new rollercoaster? And is the company better off without Treetops? She sets off to the company accountant’s office to help get some answers.

Assume that you are the chief financial officer at Mercy General Hospital. The CEO has asked you to analyze two proposed capital investments - Project X and Project Y. Each project requires a net investment outlay of $75,000, and the cost of capital for each project is 10 percent. The projects' expected net cash flows are as follows.

Year Project X Project Y

0 (75,000) (75,000)

1 20,000 50,000

2 20,000 15,000

3 20,000 15,000

4 30,000 10,000

A) Calculate each project's net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR)

B) Which project (or projects) is financially acceptable? If you reach different conclusions regarding the financial acceptability of Project X and Project Y, explain why, given that both project return total cash flows of $90,000 over the four year.