National Sweetener Company owns the patent to the artificial sweetener known as Supersweet. Assume that National Sweetener
Question:
On December 31, 2017, when the patent's book value was $160.0 million ($300.0 $140.0), National Sweetener learned that one of its competitors had developed a revolutionary new sweetener that could be produced much more economically than Supersweet. National Sweetener expects that the introduction of this product on January 1, 2018, will substantially reduce the cash flows from its Supersweet patent process. Consider the following two independent scenarios:
Scenario I: National Sweetener expects that the cash flows from Supersweet over the period 2018-2022 will be only 50% of those originally projected and that the sale of the Supersweet patent will bring only $25 million when sold. When discounted at a rate of 15% (which National Sweetener feels is appropriate), these amounts yield a present value of $129.0 million. National Sweetener estimates that the market value of the Supersweet patent on December 31, 2017, is $160.0 million.
Scenario II: National Sweetener expects that the cash flows from Supersweet over the period 2018-2022 will be only 25% of those originally projected and that the sale of the Supersweet patent will bring only $25 million when sold. When discounted at a rate of 15%, these amounts yield a present value of $70.7 million. National Sweetener estimates that the market value of the Supersweet patent on December 31, 2017 is $68.0 million.
Required:
1. Should National Sweetener recognize an impairment of its Supersweet patent in Scenario I? If so, what is the amount of the loss and at what amount should the patent be reported in National Sweetener's 2017 ending balance sheet?
2. Repeat requirement 1 for the second scenario.
Step by Step Answer:
Financial Reporting and Analysis
ISBN: 978-1259722653
7th edition
Authors: Lawrence Revsine, Daniel Collins, Bruce Johnson, Fred Mittelstaedt, Leonard Soffer