Analysis of an expansion project

Companies invest in expansion projects with the expectation of increasing the earnings of its business.

Consider the case of Yeatman Co.:

Yeatman Co. is considering an investment that will have the following sales, variable costs, and fixed operating costs:

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4
Unit sales	3,500	4,000	4,200	4,250
Sales price	$38.50	$39.88	$40.15	$41.55
Variable cost per unit	$22.34	$22.85	$23.67	$23.87
Fixed operating costs except depreciation	$37,000	$37,500	$38,120	$39,560
Accelerated depreciation rate	33%	45%	15%	7%

This project will require an investment of $15,000 in new equipment. The equipment will have no salvage value at the end of the projects four-year life. Yeatman pays a constant tax rate of 40%, and it has a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 11%. Determine what the projects net present value (NPV) would be when using accelerated depreciation. (Note: Round your answer to the nearest whole dollar.)

$34,479

$38,789

$43,099

$51,719

Now determine what the projects NPV would be when using straight-line depreciation. (Note: Round your answer to the nearest whole dollar.)

The depreciation method will result in the highest NPV for the project.

No other firm would take on this project if Yeatman turns it down. How much should Yeatman reduce the NPV of this project if it discovered that this project would reduce one of its divisions net after-tax cash flows by $700 for each year of the four-year project? (Note: Round your answer to the nearest whole dollar.)

$1,629

$1,303

$2,172

$2,389

The project will require an initial investment of $15,000, but the project will also be using a company-owned truck that is not currently being used. This truck could be sold for $14,000, after taxes, if the project is rejected. What should Yeatman do to take this information into account?

Increase the NPV of the project by $14,000.

Increase the amount of the initial investment by $14,000.

The company does not need to do anything with the value of the truck because the truck is a sunk cost.