Question
QM Industries is a large publicly listed company is the market leader in robotic technology. The company is looking to set up a manufacturing plant
QM Industries is a large publicly listed company is the market leader in robotic technology. The company is looking to set up a manufacturing plant overseas to produce a new line of domestic robots. This will be a six year project. The company bought a piece of land three years ago for $ 7 million in anticipation of using it as a toxic dump site for waste chemicals, but instead built a piping system to discard chemicals safely. If the company sold the land today it would receive $ 6.5 million after taxes. In six years the land can be sold for $5.5 million after taxes and reclamation costs. QM wants to build a new manufacturing plant on this land. The plant will cost $250 million to build. The following market data on QMs securities are current:
Debt | 150 million 9% coupon bonds outstanding with 25 years to maturity redeemable at par, selling for 92 percent of par; the bonds have a $1000 par value each and make semi-annual coupon interest payments. |
Equity | 20 million ordinary shares, selling for $60 per share |
Non-redeemable Preference shares | 20 million shares (par value $ 10 per share) with 7.2% dividends (after taxes), selling for $40 per share |
The following information is relevant:
QMs tax rate is 30%
The company had been paying dividends on its ordinary shares consistently. Dividends paid during the past five years is as follows:
Year (-4) ($) | Year (-3) ($) | Year (-2) ($) | Year (-1) ($) | Year (0) ($) |
4.8 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 7.2 |
The project requires $ 9.5 million in initial net working capital investment in year 0 to become operational.
Work all solutions to the nearest two decimals.
1) Calculate the projects initial, (time 0) cash flows, taking into account all side effects.
2) Compute the current weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of QM Industries. Show all workings and state clearly the assumptions underlying your computations.
3) Using the WACC computed in part (2) above and assuming the following, compute the projects Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and the Profitability Index (PI)
a. The manufacturing plant has a ten-year tax life and QM uses Diminishing value method depreciation for the plant at 20% per annum. At the end of the project, (i.e. at the end of year 6), the plant can be discarded for $ 50 million.
b. The project will incur $160 million per annum in fixed costs
c. QM will manufacture 250,000 domestic robots per year in each of the years and sell them at $ 2,000 per machine.
d. The variable production costs are $ 800 per machine.
e. At the end of year 6, the company will sell the land.
Step by Step Solution
There are 3 Steps involved in it
Step: 1
Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions
See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success
Step: 2
Step: 3
Ace Your Homework with AI
Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance
Get Started