(on Excel) A company is considering the purchase of a new machine (which costs $10 million) and operating it for 10 years (and selling the machine at the end of year 10). It is estimated that the new machine will generate $3.5 million in sales revenue in the FIRST year of operation. The company predicts that the sales revenue will grow at 8% per year. The annual cost of goods sold with respect to this sale is $2.75 million for the first year. The general administration costs of the company for this sale would be $0.8 million for the first year. These costs will grow at the long-term inflation rate (i.e. 2%) per year. The machine will depreciate linearly in 25 years. The company forecasts that in year 10, the market value of the machine is $6.5 million if maintained well. As a result of this investment, the company is eligible for 2 years of tax exemptions (in years 1 and 2). After year 3, the company should pay taxes at the rate of 25%.

1. What is the internal rate of return (IRR) of this project (purchase)? Should the company invest in this project if its required rate of return is 4%?

Your excel file should have at least two columns: Year (from 0 to 10) and the Cash Flow of the project at each year.

2. Plot the NPV of the project with discount rates ranging between 1% and 20% under 3 scenarios (all in the same graph): (i) Realistic, where the Sales Growth rate is 8%, (ii) Pessimistic, where the Sales Growth rate is 4%, (iii) Optimistic, where the Sales growth rate is 12%. Label the x-axis "Discount Rate" and title the plot "NPV" and add legends on the plot.