Airbus A3XX: Developing the World’s Largest Commercial Jet
Introduction:
From its inception in 1970, Airbus has maintained a reputation for innovative design and technology. Airbus has employed a “fly-by-wire” technology on all of its planes as an efficient alternative to computerized control for mechanical linkages. In addition, Airbus streamlined operations and features that have lead to better pilot utilization and lower training costs. These advances help explain why Airbus had received over half of the total large aircraft orders for the first time in 1999. Although gaining market share, Airbus faced intense rivalry with The Boeing Company, whose unique importance in the US economy as a whole and rich history allowed it to become
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Since the unlevered beta is known as 0.84, we can use debt-to-equity ratio of the project to find the levered beta for this investment, which would give us the return on equity of the project (11.6%). By looking up historical data on the Internet, we find the yield on long-term corporate bonds (rating A) in June 2000 is 7.9%. Using these numbers, we calculate the WACC to be 10.56%.
In calculating the cash flow, we use:
Price per plane * # of plane sold = Revenue
Revenue (1-operating margin rate) = operating margin
Operating margin – R&D expense – Depreciation = EBIT
*Here depreciation is only counted before 2006, since it would be reflected in operating margin after beginning production.
EBIT * (1-T) = EBIAT
EBIAT + depreciation – Capital expenditure – increase in working capital = unlevered free cash flow
Using these figures r(wacc) equals 10.56% and we therefore found the NPV of the A3XX investment to be negative $931 million (accounting for the initial cost of $700 million in 2000).
FTE Valuation:
Similarly, we use the same EBIT as in the WACC calculation.
EBIT – B*rb = taxable income
Taxable income *(1-T) = NI
NI – Net capital expenditure – net working capital + new debt – debt repayment = free cash flow to equity
Using r(s) of 11.6% as the discounting rate, we get a net present value of negative $2.7 billion.
3. Compute the unlevered free cash flow and the interest tax shields from 2008 to 2012 based on estimates provided in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 6. (3 points)
Free cash flows of the project for next five years can be calculated by adding depreciation values and subtracting changes in working capital from net income. In 2010, there will be a cash outflow of $2.2 million as capital expenditure. In 2011, there will be an additional one time cash outflow of $300,000 as an advertising expense. Using net free cash flow values for next five years and discount rate for discounting, NPV for the project comes out to be $2907, 100. The rate of return at which net present value becomes zero i.e.
Team then commenced to apply some of the budgeting concepts discussed in class. First, NPV was calculated using the NPV function in Excel - approximately $419,000. In this calculation we found NPV to be a positive number thus indicating that the Super Project investment should be pursued by General Foods.
Before moving forward to compute the present value of these cash flows, a terminal value is required to forecast the long term value of the company after 5 years. . Following formula is used to calculate the terminal value.
What is the cost of equity capital appropriate for evaluating the free cash flow associated with this investment?
A correct response requires that you find an appropriate industry beta and measure for levered/unlevered betas and requires that you define cost of equity capital and free cash flow (FCF) – you may need a formula for FCF.
Since this project is a going concern, the levered terminal and present values are calculated using the weight average cost of capital (WACC) as the discount rate, which we calculate to be 16.17%.
2. The current NPV is negative. One way to save money would be to reduce consulting costs. Please set the average consulting cost per month in cell b33 to $5000. At what discount rate is the NPV for the project 0?_____0.026____
It follows that the NPV at t=0 can be found by discounting the above number three years at 12% -- doing so you get a value of $0.2669 million – which is an estimate of what you pay for the sequel right at t=0.
The next step was to calculate the free cash flows for the eleven-year period. In order to do so, we used to following formula: FCF = EBIT(1-tax) + depreciation - change in NWC – CapEx. From here, we used to WACC of 13.89% previously calculated, in order to find the present value of each FCF.
Most of the corporations calculate WACC for giving investors an estimate on profitability and for being able to weight future projects. We are presented with Boeing current bonds, which constitute the long term debt portion of capital, and with Boeing’s assets which constitute the equity portion of capital. No other weighted entities (such as preferred shares) are considered. The debt/equity ratio would help with the calculation of weights. Boeing would need to earn at least 15.443% return on its investments (including the 7E7 project) in order to maintain the actual share price.
Depreciation: Depreciation was not included in the calculation of free cash flows because net CAPX was used.
* Determine the investment’s value without leverage, VU, by discounting its free cash flows at the
1.) In early 2003, Boeing announced plans to design and sell an airliner named the 7E7. Boeing aimed for the 7E7 to be more fuel efficient, carry between 200 and 250 passengers, able to accomplish both domestic and international flights, as well as be 10% cheaper to operate than Airbus’s A330-200 aircraft. All of these attributes were attractive to Boeing but would come at significant costs. To accomplish these attributes, Boeing proposed to construct the aircraft
Boeing found itself in the crucial situation of having lost market share to Airbus. Boeing had to act