3. Understanding the IRR and NPV The net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) methods of investment analysis are interrelated and are sometimes used together to make capital budgeting decisions. Consider the case of Green Caterpillar Garden Supplies Inc.: Last Tuesday, Green Caterpillar Garden Supplies Inc. lost a portion of its planning and financial data when both its main and its backup servers crashed. The company's CFO remembers that the internal rate of return (IRR) of Project Zeta is 13.2%, but he can't recall how much Green Caterpillar originally invested in the project nor the project's net present value (NPV). However, he found a note that detailed the annual net cash flows expected to be generated by Project Zeta. They are: Year Cash Flow Year 1 $2,400,000 Year 2 $4,500,000 Year 3 $4,500,000 Year 4 $4,500,000 The CFO has asked you to compute Project Zeta's initial investment using the information currently available to you. He has offered the following suggestions and observations: A project's IRR represents the return the project would generate when its NPV is zero or the discounted value of its cash inflows equals the discounted value of its cash outflows -when the cash flows are discounted using the project's IRR. The level of risk exhibited by Project Zeta is the same as that exhibited by the company's average project, which means that Project Zeta's net cash flows can be discounted using Green Caterpillar's 7% WACC. and its NPV is Given the data and hints, Project Zeta's initial investment is (rounded to the nearest whole dollar). A project's IRR will is unaffected. if the project's cash inflows decrease, and everything else 4. Modified internal rate of return (MIRR) The IRR evaluation method assumes that cash flows from the project are reinvested at the same rate equal to the IRR. However, in reality the reinvested cash flows may not necessarily generate a return equal to the IRR. Thus, the modified IRR approach makes a more reasonable assumption other than the project's IRR. Consider the following situation: Celestial Crane Cosmetics is analyzing a project that requires an initial investment of $550,000. The project's expected cash flows are: Year Cash Flow Year 1 $300,000 Year 2 -100,000 Year 3 450,000 Year 4 425,000 Celestial Crane Cosmetics's WACC is 10%, and the project has the same risk as the firm's average project. Calculate this project's modified internal rate of return (MIRR): 20.17% 22.19% 17.14% 23.20% If Celestial Crane Cosmetics's managers select projects based on the MIRR criterion, they should this independent project. Which of the following statements best describes the difference between the IRR method and the MIRR method? The IRR method uses only cash inflows to calculate the IRR. The MIRR method uses both cash inflows and cash outflows to calculate the MIRR. The IRR method assumes that cash flows are reinvested at a rate of return equal to the IRR. The MIRR method assumes that cash flows are reinvested at a rate of return equal to the cost of capital. The IRR method uses the present value of the initial investment to calculate the IRR. The MIRR method uses the terminal value of the initial investment to calculate the MIRR. 5. NPV profiles An NPV profile plots a project's NPV at various costs of capital, labeled "A" and "B" in the graph. A project's NPV profile is shown as follows. Identify the range of costs (ranges labeled "A" and "B") of capital that a firm would use to accept and reject this project. NPV (Dollars) 400 300 200 A 100 0 B -100 -200 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 COST OF CAPITAL (Percent) A B True or False: The NPV and IRR methods can lead to conflicting decisions for mutually exclusive projects. True False