Concept explainers
Western Airlines is considering a new route that will require adding an additional Boeing 777 to its fleet. Western can purchase the airplane for $225 million or lease it for $25 million per year. If it purchases the airplane, its seating can be optimized, and the new route is expected to generate profits of $50 million per year. If leased, the route will only generate profits of $35 million per year. Suppose the appropriate cost of capital is 12.5% and that, if purchased, the plane can be sold at any time for an expected resale price of $225 million. Ignore taxes.
- a. As a one-year decision, does purchasing or leasing the plane have higher
NPV ? - b. Suppose the funds to purchase or lease the plane will come from equity holders (for example, by reducing the amount of Western's current dividend). Western also has one-year debt outstanding, and there is a 10% (risk-neutral23) probability that over the next year Western will declare bankruptcy and its equity holders will be wiped out. Otherwise, the debt will be rolled over at the end of the year. Is purchasing or leasing the plane more attractive to equity holders?
Chapter 21 explains risk-neutral probabilities. If you have not read that chapter, you can work the problem and get the same answers by assuming that the specified probabilities are the actual probabilities of default but the risk of default is purely idiosyncratic risk.
- c. At what (risk-neutral) probability of default would equity holders' preference for leasing versus purchasing the plane change?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 25 Solutions
Corporate Finance (4th Edition) (Pearson Series in Finance) - Standalone book
- Wansley Lumber is considering the purchase of a paper company, which would require an initial investment of $300 million. Wansley estimates that the paper company would provide net cash flows of $40 million at the end of each of the next 20 years. The cost of capital for the paper company is 13%. Should Wansley purchase the paper company? Wansley realizes that the cash flows in Years 1 to 20 might be $30 million per year or $50 million per year, with a 50% probability of each outcome. Because of the nature of the purchase contract, Wansley can sell the company 2 years after purchase (at Year 2 in this case) for $280 million if it no longer wants to own it. Given this additional information, does decision-tree analysis indicate that it makes sense to purchase the paper company? Again, assume that all cash flows are discounted at 13%. Wansley can wait for 1 year and find out whether the cash flows will be $30 million per year or $50 million per year before deciding to purchase the company. Because of the nature of the purchase contract, if it waits to purchase, Wansley can no longer sell the company 2 years after purchase. Given this additional information, does decision-tree analysis indicate that it makes sense to purchase the paper company? If so, when? Again, assume that all cash flows are discounted at 13%.arrow_forwardThe Rodriguez Company is considering an average-risk investment in a mineral water spring project that has an initial after-tax cost of 170,000. The project will produce 1,000 cases of mineral water per year indefinitely, starting at Year 1. The Year-1 sales price will be 138 per case, and the Year-1 cost per case will be 105. The firm is taxed at a rate of 25%. Both prices and costs are expected to rise after Year 1 at a rate of 6% per year due to inflation. The firm uses only equity, and it has a cost of capital of 15%. Assume that cash flows consist only of after-tax profits because the spring has an indefinite life and will not be depreciated. a. What is the present value of future cash flows? (Hint: The project is a growing perpetuity, so you must use the constant growth formula to find its NPV.) What is the NPV? b. Suppose that the company had forgotten to include future inflation. What would they have incorrectly calculated as the projects NPV?arrow_forwardFriedman Company is considering installing a new IT system. The cost of the new system is estimated to be 2,250,000, but it would produce after-tax savings of 450,000 per year in labor costs. The estimated life of the new system is 10 years, with no salvage value expected. Intrigued by the possibility of saving 450,000 per year and having a more reliable information system, the president of Friedman has asked for an analysis of the projects economic viability. All capital projects are required to earn at least the firms cost of capital, which is 12 percent. Required: 1. Calculate the projects internal rate of return. Should the company acquire the new IT system? 2. Suppose that savings are less than claimed. Calculate the minimum annual cash savings that must be realized for the project to earn a rate equal to the firms cost of capital. Comment on the safety margin that exists, if any. 3. Suppose that the life of the IT system is overestimated by two years. Repeat Requirements 1 and 2 under this assumption. Comment on the usefulness of this information.arrow_forward
- Markoff Products is considering two competing projects, but only one will be selected. Project A requires an initial investment of $42,000 and is expected to generate future cash flows of $6,000 for each of the next 50 years. Project B requires an initial investment of $210,000 and will generate $30,000 for each of the next 10 years. If Markoff requires a payback of 8 years or less, which project should it select based on payback periods?arrow_forwardTalbot Industries is considering launching a new product. The new manufacturing equipment will cost $17 million, and production and sales will require an initial $5 million investment in net operating working capital. The company’s tax rate is 25%. What is the initial investment outlay? The company spent and expensed $150,000 on research related to the new product last year. What is the initial investment outlay? Rather than build a new manufacturing facility, the company plans to install the equipment in a building it owns but is not now using. The building could be sold for $1.5 million after taxes and real estate commissions. What is the initial investment outlay?arrow_forwardGina Ripley, president of Dearing Company, is considering the purchase of a computer-aided manufacturing system. The annual net cash benefits and savings associated with the system are described as follows: The system will cost 9,000,000 and last 10 years. The companys cost of capital is 12 percent. Required: 1. Calculate the payback period for the system. Assume that the company has a policy of only accepting projects with a payback of five years or less. Would the system be acquired? 2. Calculate the NPV and IRR for the project. Should the system be purchasedeven if it does not meet the payback criterion? 3. The project manager reviewed the projected cash flows and pointed out that two items had been missed. First, the system would have a salvage value, net of any tax effects, of 1,000,000 at the end of 10 years. Second, the increased quality and delivery performance would allow the company to increase its market share by 20 percent. This would produce an additional annual net benefit of 300,000. Recalculate the payback period, NPV, and IRR given this new information. (For the IRR computation, initially ignore salvage value.) Does the decision change? Suppose that the salvage value is only half what is projected. Does this make a difference in the outcome? Does salvage value have any real bearing on the companys decision?arrow_forward
- Intermediate Financial Management (MindTap Course...FinanceISBN:9781337395083Author:Eugene F. Brigham, Phillip R. DavesPublisher:Cengage LearningEBK CONTEMPORARY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFinanceISBN:9781337514835Author:MOYERPublisher:CENGAGE LEARNING - CONSIGNMENT
- Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Accounting Volume 2AccountingISBN:9781947172609Author:OpenStaxPublisher:OpenStax College