The Riteway Ad Agency provides cars for its sales staff. In the past, the company has always purchased its cars from a dealer and then sold the cars after three years of use. The company's present fleet of cars is three years old and will be sold very shortly. To provide a replacement fleet, the company is considering two alternatives: Purchase alternative: The company can purchase the cars, as in the past, and sell the cars after three years of use. Ten cars will be needed, which can be purchased at a discounted price of $20,000 each. If this alternative is accepted, the following costs will be incurred on the fleet as a whole: Annual cost of servicing, taxes, and licensing Repairs, first year Repairs, second year Repairs, third year $ 5,300 $ 3,200 $ 5,700 $ 7,700 At the end of three years, the fleet could be sold for one-half of the original purchase price. Lease alternative: The company can lease the cars under a three-year lease contract. The lease cost would be $72,000 per year (the first payment due at the end of Year 1). As part of this lease cost, the owner would provide all servicing and repairs, license the cars, and pay all the taxes. Riteway would be required to make a $16,000 security deposit at the beginning of the lease period, which would be refunded when the cars were returned to the owner at the end of the lease contract. Riteway Ad Agency's required rate of return is 16%. Required: 1. What is the net present value of the cash flows associated with the purchase alternative? 2. What is the net present value of the cash flows associated with the lease alternative? 3. Which alternative should the company accept? Lou Barlow, a divisional manager for Sage Company, has an opportunity to manufacture and sell one of two new products for a five- year period. His annual pay raises are determined by his division's return on investment (ROI), which has exceeded 23% each of the last three years. He has computed the cost and revenue estimates for each product as follows: Annual revenues and costs: Product A Product B Initial investment: Cost of equipment (zero salvage value) $ 290,000 $ 490,000 $ 340,000 $ 440,000 $ 154,000 $ 206,000 $ 58,000 $ 98,000 Fixed out-of-pocket operating costs $ 79,000 $ 59,000 Sales revenues Variable expenses Depreciation expense The company's discount rate is 15%. Required: 1. Calculate the payback period for each product. 2. Calculate the net present value for each product. 3. Calculate the profitability index for each product. 4. Calculate the simple rate of return for each product. 5a. For each measure, identify whether Product A or Product B is preferred. 5b. Based on the simple rate of return, which of the two products should Lou's division accept