Courtney-Cox, Inc., is a Texas-based manufacturer and distributor of components and replacement parts for the auto, machinery, farm, and construction equipment industries. The company is presently funding a program of capital investment that is necessary to reduce production costs and thereby meet an onslaught of competition from low-cost suppliers located in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Courtney-Cox has a limited amount of capital available and must carefully weigh both the risks and potential rewards associated with alternative investments. In particular, the company seeks to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a new investment project, project X, in light of two other recently adopted investment projects, project Y and project Z:

A. Using a 5 percent risk-free rate, calculate the present value of expected cash flows after tax (CFAT) for the ten-year life of project X.
B. Calculate the minimum certainty equivalent adjustment factor for each project’s CFAT that would justify investment in each project.
C. Assume that the management of Courtney-Cox is risk averse and uses the certainty equivalent method in decision making. Is project X as attractive as or more attractive than projects Y and Z?
D. If the company would not have been willing to invest more than $60,000 in project Y nor more than $50,000 in project Z, should project X beundertaken?

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Expected Cash Flows After Tax (CFAT) Per Year Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Project X $10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 Project Y S20,000 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8.000 6.000 4.000 2,000 $91,131 S60,000 Project Z S0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 20,000 22,500 S79,130 $50,000 PV of Cash Flow@5 percent Investment S60,000 Outlay in 2000