1. HomeGrown Company

   HomeGrown Company is a chain of grocery stores that are similar to indoor farmer's markets, providing fresh, local produce, meats, and dairy products to consumers in urban areas. HomeGrown is considering opening several stores in a new city, and has proposals from three contractors (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma companies) who would like to provide buildings for the new stores.

   The amount of expected revenue from the stores will depend on the design of the contractor. For example, if HomeGrown decides on a more open floor plan, with less shelf space for products, revenue would be lower overall. However, if HomeGrown decides on a very crowded floor plan, it may lose customers who appreciate a more open feel.

   As the project manager for HomeGrown, you are responsible for deciding which if any of the proposals to accept. HomeGrown's minimum acceptable rate of return is 20%. You receive the following data from the three contractors:

   Proposal	Type of Floor Plan	Initial Cost if Selected	Residual Value
   Alpha	Very open, like an indoor farmers market	$1,472,000	$0.00
   Beta	Standard grocery shelving and layout, minimal aisle space	5,678,900	0.00
   Gamma	Mix of open areas and shelving areas	2,125,560	0.00

   You have computed estimates of annual cash flows and average annual income from customers for each of the three contractors' plans. You believe that the annual cash flows will be equal for each of the 10 years for which you are preparing your capital investment analysis. Your conclusions are presented in the following table.

   Proposal	Estimated Average Annual Income (after depreciation)	Estimated Average Annual Cash Flow
   Alpha	$302,054	$351,145
   Beta	272,019	475,608
   Gamma	521,931	598,133

   Average Rate of Return

   You begin by trying to eliminate any proposals that are not yielding the companys minimum required rate of return of 20%. Complete the following table, and decide whether Alpha, Beta, and/or Gamma should be eliminated because the average rate of return of their project is less than the company's minimum required rate of return.

   Complete the following table. Enter the average rates of return as percentages rounded to two decimal places.

   Proposal	Estimated Average Annual Income	Average Investment	Average Rate of Return	Accept or Reject
   Alpha	$ ???	$ ???	??? %	???
   Beta	???	???	??? %	???
   Gamma	???	???	??? %	???

   Cash Payback Method

   Youve decided to confirm your results from the average rate of return by using the cash payback method.

   Using the following table, compute the cash payback period of each investment. If required, round the number of years in the cash payback period to a whole number.

   Proposal	Initial Cost	Annual Net Cash Inflow	Cash Payback Period in Years
   Alpha	$ ???	$ ???	???
   Beta	???	???	???
   Gamma	???	???	???

   Net Present Value

   Even though youre fairly certain that your evaluation and elimination is correct, you would like to compare the three proposals using the net present value method, and get some data about the internal rate of return of the proposals, each of which are expected to generate their respective annual net cash inflows for a period of 10 years.

   Compute the net present value of each proposal. You may need the following partial table of factors for present value of an annuity of $1. Round the present value of annual net cash flows to the nearest dollar. If your answer is zero enter "0". For the net present value, if required, use the minus sign (-) to indicate a negative amount.

   Present Value of an Annuity of $1 at Compound Interest (Partial Table)
   Year	10%	20%
   1	0.909	0.833
   5	3.791	2.991
   10	6.145	4.192

   	Alpha	Beta	Gamma
   Annual net cash flow	$ ???	$ ???	$ ???
   Present value factor	???	???	???
   Present value of annual net cash flows	$ ???	$ ???	$ ???
   Amount to be invested	???	???	???
   Net present value	$ ???	$ ???	$ ???