Question 4 (20 Marks)

Cups Ltd. has the option of investing inthe following two projects of equal risk; they are mutually exclusive alternatives for expanding the firms capacity. The firms cost of capital is 12%. The cash flows for each project are given in the following table.

	PROJECT A	PROJECT B
Initial investment	450,000	320,000
Year	Net cash inflows	Net cash inflows
1	140,000	175,000
2	190,000	150,000
3	220,000	125,000
4	270,000

Cups Ltd. has incurred a research and development expenditure of $45,000 initially for project A and $35,000 for project B, both of which are considered sunk costs for the business. Due to seasonal demand, business believes for project A only, they will have to incur additional electricity charge of $1,000 each year till year 4. At the end of year 4, the business believes that they could sell project A for $80,000 and at the end of year 3, project B for $60,000. The finance manager has also suggested that any investment that takes more than 4 years to pay back the initial investment should be rejected.

Required:

(i) Calculate the net present value for each project. Using the net present value criterion, which project is preferable and why?(7 Marks)

(ii) Calculate the payback period for each project. Using the payback period criterion which project is preferable and why? (5 Marks)

(iii) Calculate the profitability index for each project. Using the profitability index criterion which project is acceptable and why? (3 Marks)

(iv) Calculate equivalent annual value for each project. Using the equivalent annual value method which project is acceptable and why? (5 Marks)

(Total 20 Marks)