Alternative Capital Investments

The investment committee of Shield Insurance Co. is evaluating two projects, office expansion and upgrade to computer servers. The projects have different useful lives, but each requires an investment of $884,000. The estimated net cash flows from each project are as follows:

	Net Cash Flow
Year	Office Expansion				Server Upgrade
1	$247,000				$326,000
2	247,000				326,000
3	247,000				326,000
4	247,000				326,000
5	247,000
6	247,000

The committee has selected a rate of 15% for purposes of net present value analysis. It also estimates that the residual value at the end of each project's useful life is $0, but at the end of the fourth year, the office expansion's residual value would be $309,000.

Present Value of $1 at Compound Interest
Year	6%	10%	12%	15%	20%
1	0.943	0.909	0.893	0.870	0.833
2	0.890	0.826	0.797	0.756	0.694
3	0.840	0.751	0.712	0.658	0.579
4	0.792	0.683	0.636	0.572	0.482
5	0.747	0.621	0.567	0.497	0.402
6	0.705	0.564	0.507	0.432	0.335
7	0.665	0.513	0.452	0.376	0.279
8	0.627	0.467	0.404	0.327	0.233
9	0.592	0.424	0.361	0.284	0.194
10	0.558	0.386	0.322	0.247	0.162

Present Value of an Annuity of $1 at Compound Interest
Year	6%	10%	12%	15%	20%
1	0.943	0.909	0.893	0.870	0.833
2	1.833	1.736	1.690	1.626	1.528
3	2.673	2.487	2.402	2.283	2.106
4	3.465	3.170	3.037	2.855	2.589
5	4.212	3.791	3.605	3.352	2.991
6	4.917	4.355	4.111	3.784	3.326
7	5.582	4.868	4.564	4.160	3.605
8	6.210	5.335	4.968	4.487	3.837
9	6.802	5.759	5.328	4.772	4.031
10	7.360	6.145	5.650	5.019	4.192

Required:

If required, use the minus sign to indicate a negative net present value.

1. For each project, compute the net present value. Use the present value of an annuity of $1 table above. Ignore the unequal lives of the projects. If required, round to the nearest dollar.

Office Expansion Server Upgrade Present value of annual net cash flows 934648 930730 Less amount to be invested 884000 884000 Net present value 50648 46730 2. For each project, compute the net present value, assuming that the office expansion is adjusted to a four-year life for purposes of analysis. Use the present value of $1 table above Office Expansion Server Upgrade Present value of net cash flow total 881933 930730 Less amount to be invested 884000 $884000 Net present value -2067 46730 3. The net present value of the two projects over equal lives indicates that the server upgrade h has a higher net present value and would be a superior investment