Exam 12: Capital Budgeting: Decision Criteria

The cost of capital for two mutually exclusive projects that are being considered is 8%. Project K has an IRR of 20% while Project R's IRR is 15%. The projects have the same NPV at the 8% current cost of capital. However, you believe that money costs and thus your cost of capital will also increase. You also think that the projects will not be funded until the cost of capital has increased, and their cash flows will not be affected by the change in economic conditions. Under these conditions, which of the following statements is CORRECT?

The NPV and IRR methods, when used to evaluate two independent and equally risky projects, will lead to different accept/reject decisions and thus capital budgets if the projects' IRRs are greater than their cost of capital.

Suppose a firm relies exclusively on the payback method when making capital budgeting decisions, and it sets a 4-year payback regardless of economic conditions. Other things held constant, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

Normal Projects S and L have the same NPV when the discount rate is zero. However, Project S's cash flows come in faster than those of L. Therefore, we know that at any discount rate greater than zero, L will have the higher NPV.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Markman & Sons is considering Projects S and L. These projects are mutually exclusive, equally risky, and not repeatable and their cash flows are shown below. If the decision is made by choosing the project with the higher IRR, how much value will be forgone? Note that under certain conditions choosing projects on the basis of the IRR will not cause any value to be lost because the project with the higher IRR will also have the higher NPV, i.e., no conflict will exist. r :10.00\% Year 0 1 2 3 4 -\ 1,025 \ 650 \ 450 \ 250 \ 50 -\ 1,025 \ 100 \ 300 \ 500 \ 700

The primary reason that the NPV method is conceptually superior to the IRR method for evaluating mutually exclusive investments is that multiple IRRs may exist, and when that happens, we don't know which IRR is relevant.

The internal rate of return is that discount rate that equates the present value of the cash outflows (or costs) with the present value of the cash inflows.

Watts Co. is considering a project that has the following cash flow and cost of capital (r) data. What is the project's MIRR? Note that a project's MIRR can be less than the cost of capital (and even negative), in which case it will be rejected. r=10.00\% Year 0 1 2 3 4 Cash flows -\ 850 300 320 340 360

Projects S and L are both normal projects with an initial cost of $10,000, followed by a series of positive cash inflows. Project S's undiscounted net cash flows total $20,000, while L's total undiscounted flows are $30,000. At a cost of capital of 10%, the two projects have identical NPVs. Which project's NPV is more sensitive to changes in the cost of capital?

The IRR method is based on the assumption that projects' cash flows are reinvested at the project's risk-adjusted cost of capital.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?Assume that the project being considered has normal cash flows, with one outflow followed by a series of inflows.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? Assume that the project being considered has normal cash flows, with one outflow followed by a series of inflows.

The cost of capital for two mutually exclusive projects that are being considered is 12%. Project K has an IRR of 20% while Project R's IRR is 15%. The projects have the same NPV at the 12% current cost of capital. Interest rates are currently high. However, you believe that money costs and thus your cost of capital will soon decline. You also think that the projects will not be funded until the cost of capital has decreased, and their cash flows will not be affected by the change in economic conditions. Under these conditions, which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Hart Corp. is considering a project that has the following cash flow data. What is the project's IRR? Note that a project's IRR can be less than the cost of capital or negative, in both cases it will be rejected. Year Cash flows 0 1 2 3 -\ 1,000 \ 425 \ 425 \ 425

The phenomenon called "multiple internal rates of return" arises when two or more mutually exclusive projects that have different lives are compared to one another.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Conflicts between two mutually exclusive projects occasionally occur, where the NPV method ranks one project higher but the IRR method ranks the other one first. In theory, such conflicts should be resolved in favor of the project with the higher positive IRR.

The regular payback method is deficient in that it does not take account of cash flows beyond the payback period. The discounted payback method corrects this fault.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?