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Capital budgeting decision
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Contents
Objective............................................................................................................................................ 3
Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 3
Nature of investment decisions........................................................................................................... 4
Importance ofInvestment Decisions...................................................................................................
5
Types of investment decisions............................................................................................................ 6
Net present value.............................................................................................................................. 10
Internal rate of return (IRR).............................................................................................................. 12
Profitability Index............................................................................................................................ 12
PaybackPeriod Method.................................................................................................................... 13
Accounting Rate ofReturn Method.................................................................................................. 14
NPV versus IRR...............................................................................................................................
15
INFLATION AND CAPITAL BUDGETING DECISIONS.............................................................. 16
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 22
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Objectivey To understand the nature and importance of investment decisions.y To explain the methods of calculating VPV and IRR.y To describe the non-DCF evaluation criteria: payback and ARRy To compare and contract NPV and IRRand emphasis the superiority of NPV rule.
IntroductionAn efficient allocation of capital is the most important finance function in modern times. It
involves decisions to commit the firms funds to the long term assets. Capital budgeting or
investment decisions are of considerable importance to the firm since they tend to determine
its value by influencing its growth, profitability and risk. In this term paper, focus on the
nature and evaluation of capital budgeting decisions has been made.
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Nature of investment decisionsThe investment decision of a firm are generally known as the capital budgeting, or capital
expenditure decision. A capital budgeting decision may be defined as the firms decision to
invest its current funds most efficiently in the long-term assets in anticipation of an expected
flow of benefits over a series of years. The long-term assets are those that affect the firms
operation beyond the one-year period. The firms investment decisions would generally
include expansion; acquisition decisions would generally include expansion, acquisition,
modernization and replacement of the long-term assets. Sale of a division or business
(divestment) is also as an investment decision. Decisions like the change in the methods of
sales distribution, or an advertisement campaign or a research and capital. In this chapter, we
assume that the investment projects opportunity cost of capital is known.
The long term assets are those that affect the firms operations beyond the one year period.
The firms investment decisions would generally include expansion, acquisition,
modernization and replacement of the long term asset. Sale of division or business is also as
an investment decision. Decisions like the change in the methods of sales distribution, or an
advertisement campaign or a research and development programmed have long term
implications for the firms expenditures and benefits, and therefore, they should also be
evaluated as investment decisions.
It is important to note that investment in the long term assets invariably requires large funds to
be tied up in the current assets such as inventories and receivables. As such, investment in
fixed and current assets is one single activity.
The following are the features of investment decisions,
The exchange of current funds for future benefits.
The funds are invested in long term assets.
The future benefits will occur to the firm over a series of years.
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Importance ofInvestment DecisionsInvestment decisions require special attention because of the following reasons:
They influence the firms growth in the long run
They affect the risk of the firm
They involve commitment of large amount of funds
They are irreversible, or reversible at substantial loss
They are among the most difficult decisions to make
Growth
The effects of investment decisions extend into the future and have to be endured for a longer
period than the consequences of the current operating expenditure. A firms decision to invest
in long term assets has decisive influence on the rate and direction of its growth. A wrong
decision can prove disastrous for the continued survival of the firm; unwanted or unprofitable
expansion of assets will result in heavy operating costs to the firm. On the other hand
inadequate investment in assets would make it difficult for the firm to compete successfully
and maintain its market share.
Risk
A long-term commitment of funds may also change the risk complexity of the firm. If the
adoption of an investment increases average gain but causes frequent fluctuations in its
earnings, the firm will become more risky. Thus, investment decisions shape the basic
character of a firm.
Funding
Investment decisions generally involve large amount of funds, which make it imperative for
the firm to plan its investment programmers very carefully and make an advance arrangement
for procuring finances internally or externally.
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Irreversibility
Most Investment decisions are irreversible. It is difficult to find a market for such capital
items once they have been acquired. The firm will incur heavy losses if such assets are
scrapped.
Complexity
Investment decisions are among the firms most difficult decisions. They are an assessment of
future events, which are difficult to predict. It is really a complex problem to correctly
estimate the future cash flows of an investment. Economic, political, social and technological
forces cause the uncertainty in cash flow estimation.
Types of investment decisions
There are many ways to classify investments. One classification is as follows :
y Expansion of existing businessy Expansion of new businessy Replacement and modernization
Expansionand Diversification
A company may add capacity to its existing product lines to expand existing operation. For
example, the Company Y may increase its plant capacity to manufacture more X. It is an
example of related diversification. A firm may expand its activities in a new business.
Expansion of a new business requires investment in new products and a new kind of
production activity within the firm. If a packing manufacturing company invest in a new plant
and machinery to produce ball bearings, which the firm has not manufacture before, thisrepresents expansion of new business or unrelated diversification. Sometimes a company
acquires existing firms to expand its business. In either case, the firm makes investment in the
expectation of additional revenue. Investment in existing or new products may also be called
as revenue expansion investment.
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Replacement and Modernization
The main objective of modernization and replacement is to improve operating efficiency and
reduce costs. Cost savings will reflect in the increased profits, but the firms revenue may
remain unchanged. Assets become outdated and obsolete with technological changes. The
firm must decide to replace those assets with new assets that operate more economically. If a
Garment company changes from semi automatic washing equipment to fully automatic
washing equipment, it is an example of modernization and replacement. Replacement
decisions help to introduce more efficient and economical assets and therefore, are also called
cost reduction investments. However, replacement decisions that involve substantial
modernization and technological improvements expand revenues as well as reduce costs.
Another useful way of classify investments is as follows
Mutually exclusive investment
Independent investment
Contingent investment
Mutually exclusive investment
Mutually exclusive investments serve the same purpose and compete with each other. If one
investment is undertaken, others will have to be excluded. A company may, for example,
either use a more labor intensive, semi automatic machine, or employ a more capital
intensive, highly automatic machine for production. Choosing the semi-automatic machine
precludes the acceptance of the highly automatic machine.
Independent investment
Independent investments serve different purposes and do not compete with each other. For
example, a heavy engineering company may be considering expansion of its plant capacity to
manufacture additional excavators and addition of new production facilities to manufacture a
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new product light commercial vehicles. Depending on their profitability and availability of
funds, the company can undertake both investments.
Contingent investment
Contingent investments are dependent projects; the choice of one investment necessitates
undertaking one or more other investment. For example, if a company decides to build a
factory in a remote, backward area, it may have to invest in houses, roads, hospitals, and
many more. For employees to attract the work force thus, building of factory also requires
investment in facilities for employees. The total expenditure will be treated as one single
investment.
Three steps are involved in the evaluation of an investment:
Estimation of cash flows
Estimation of the required rate of return (the opportunity cost of capital)
Application of a decision rule for decision rule for making the choice
Investment decision rule
The investment decision rules may be referred to as capital budgeting techniques, or
investment criteria. A sound appraisal technique should be used to measure the economic
worth of an investment project. The essential property of a sound technique is that is should
maximize the shareholders wealth. The following other characteristics should also be
possessed by a sound investment evaluation criterion:
It should consider all cash flows to determine the true profitability of then project.
It should provide for an objective and unambiguous way of separate good projects from bad
projects.
It should help ranking of projects according to their true profitability.
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It should recognize the fact that bigger cash flows are preferable to smaller ones and early
cash flows are preferable to later ones.
It should help to choose among mutually exclusive projects that project which maximizes
the shareholders wealth.
It should be a criterion which is applicable to any conceivable investment project
independent of others.
These conditions will be clarified as we discuss the features of various investment criteria in
the following posts.
Investment Appraisal Criteria
A number of investment appraisal criteria or capital budgeting techniques are in use of
practice. They may be grouped in the following two categories:
1. Discounted cash flow criteria
Net present value
Internal rate of return
Profitability index (PI)
2. Not discounted cash flow criteria
Payback period
Accounting rate of return
Discounted payback period
Discounted payback is a variation of the payback method. It involves discounted method, but
it is not a true measure of investment profitability. We will show in our following posts the
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net present value criterion is the most valid technique of evaluating an investment project. It is
consistent with the objective of maximizing the shareholders wealth.
Net present v
alue
Net Present Value (NPV), defined as the present value of the future net cash flows from an
investment project, is one of the main ways to evaluate an investment. Net present value is
one of the most used techniques and is a common term in the mind of any experienced
business person.
The net present value (NPV) method is the classic economic method of evaluating the
investment proposals. It is discounted cash flow technique that explicitly recognizes the tine
value of money. It correctly postulates that cash flows arising at different time periods differ
in value and are comparable only when their equivalents present values are found out. The
following steps involved in the calculation net present value (NPV):
y Cash flows of the investment project should be forecast ed based on realisticassumptions.
y Appropriate discount rate should be identified to discount the forecast ed cash flows.The appropriate discount rate is the projects opportunity cost of capital, which is equalto the required rate of return expected by investors on investments of equivalent risk.
y Present value of cash flows should be calculated using the opportunity cost of capitalas the discount rate.
y Net present value (NPV) should be found out by subtracting present value of cashoutflows from present value of cash inflows. The project should be accepted if net
present value (NPV) is positive.
Project acceptance rule usingnet present value
It should be clear that the acceptance rule using the net present value (NPV) method is to
accept the investment project if its net present value (NPV) is positive and to reject it if the net
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present value (NPV) is negative. Positive net present value (NPV) contributes to the net
wealth of the shareholders, which should result in the increased price of a firms share. The
positive net present value (NPV) will result only if the project generates cash inflows at a rate
higher than the opportunity cost of capital. A project with zero net present value (NPV) may
be accepted. A zero net present value (NPV) implies that project generates cash flow at a rate
just equal to the opportunity cost of capital.
The net present value (NPV) acceptance rules are:
y Accept the project net present value (NPV) is positivey Reject the project net present value (NPV) is negativey May accept the project when net present (NPV) is zero
The net present value (NPV) can be used to select between mutually exclusive projects; the
one with the higher net present value (NPV) should be selected. Using the net present value
(NPV) method, projects would be ranked in order of net present values; that is, first rank will
be given to the project with higher positive net present value (NPV) and so on.
Net present value can be explained quite simply, though the process of applying NPV may be
considerably more difficult. Net present value analysis eliminates the time element in
comparing alternative investments. The NPV method usually provides better decisions than
other methods when making capital investments. Consequently, it is the more popular
evaluation method of capital budgeting projects.
When choosing between competing investments using the net present value calculation you
should select the one with the highest present value.
If:
NPV > 0, accept the investment.
NPV < 0, reject the investment.
NPV = 0, the investment is marginal
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Internal rate of return (IRR)
The internal rate of return (IRR) is the rate that equates the investment outlay with the present
value of cash inflow received after one period. This also implied that the rate of return is
the discount rate which makes net present value (NPV) =0. There is no satisfactory way of
defining the true rate of return of a long term asset. Internal rate of return (IRR) is the best
available concept. We shall see that although it is very frequently used concept in finance, yet at
times it can be a misleading measure of investment worth.
The internal rate of return (IRR) method is another discounted cash flow method for investment
appraisal, which takes account of the magnitude and timing of cash flows. Other terms used to
describe the internal rate of return (IRR) method are yield on an investment, marginally efficiency
of capital, rate of return over cost, time adjusted rate of internal return and so on.
ProfitabilityIndex
Profitability index is the ration of the present value of cash inflows, at the required rate of
return, to the initial cash outflow of the investment. Profitability index is another time
adjusted method of evaluating the investment proposals is the benefit-cost (B/C) ratio or
profitability index PI).
PI = Present value of cash inflows/ Initial cash outflow
Acceptance Rule
The following are the profitability index (PI) acceptance rules:
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y Accept the project when profitability index is grater than oney Rejected the project when profitability index is less than oney May accept the project when profitability index equal one
The project with positive net present value will have profitability index grater than one.
Profitability index less than one means that the projects net present value is negative
Evaluation of profitability index (PI) method
Profitability index (PI) is a conceptually sound method of appraising investment projects. It is
a variation of the net present value (NPV) method, and requires the same computations as the
net present value (NPV) method.
y Time value. It recognizes the time value of money.y Value maximization. It is consistent with the shareholder value maximization
principle. A project with profitability index grater than one will have positive net
present value (NPV) and if accepted, it will increase shareholders wealth.
y Relative profitability. In the profitability index (PI) method, since the present value ofcash inflows is divided by the initial cash outflow, it is a relative measure of aprojects profitability.
Like the net present value (NPV) method, this criterion also requires calculation of cash flows
and estimate of the discount rate. In practice, estimation of cash flows and discount rate pose
problems.
PaybackPeriod Method
Payback is the number of years required to recover the original cash flow outlay investment in aproject.
The payback is one of the most popular and widely recognized traditional methods of evaluating
investment proposals.
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If the project generates consistent annual cash inflows, the payback period can be computed bydividing cash outlay by the annual cash inflow. That is:
Payback = Initial investment / Annual Cash inflow
Acceptance Rule
Many firms use the payback period as an investment evaluation criterion and method of ranking
projects. They compare the projects payback with a predetermined, standard payback. The
project would be accepted if its payback period is less than the maximum or standard payback
period set by management. As a ranking method, it gives highest ranking to the project, which has
the shortest payback period and lowest ranking to the project with highest payback period. Thus,
if the firm has to choose between two mutually exclusive projects, the project with shorter
payback period will be selected.
AccountingRate ofReturn MethodThe accounting rate of return is the ratio of the average after-tax profit divided by the average
investment. The average investment would be equal to half of the original investment if it
were depreciated constantly. A variation of the ARR method is to divide average earnings
after taxes by the original cost of the project instead of the average cost.
ARR= Average income/Average investment
Acceptance Rule
This method will accept all those projects whose ARR is higher than the minimum rateestablished by the management and reject those projects which have ARRless than the
minimum rate.
This method would rank a project as number one if it has highest ARR and lowestrank would be assigned to the project with lowest ARR.
Evaluation of ARRMethod
The ARRmethod may claim some merits
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Simplicity : The ARR method is simple to understand and use. It does notinvlve complicated computations.
Accounting data: The ARRcan be readily calculated from the accounting data;unlike in the NPV and IRR method, no adjustments are required to arrive at
cash flows of the project.
Accounting profitability: The ARR rule incorporates the entire stream ofincome in calculating the projects profitability.
Serious shortcoming Cash flows ignored: The ARRmethod uses accounting profits, not cash flows,
in appraising the projects. Accounting profits are based on arbitrary
assumptions and choices and also include non cash items. It is therefore in
appropriate to rely on them for measuring acceptability of the investment
projects.
Time value ignored: the averaging of income ignores the time value of money.In fact this procedure gives more weight age to the distant receipts.
Arbitrary cut-off: The first employing the ARR rule uses and arbitrary cut-offyard stick. Generally, the yard stick is the firms current return on its assets
(BOOKVALUE). Because of this the growth companies earning very high
rates on their existing assets may reject profitable projects (i.e., with positive
NPVs). And the less profitable companies may accept that projects (i.e., with
negative NPVs).
NPV versus IRR Conventional Independent Projects:
In case of conventional investments, which are economically independent of
each other, NPV and IRRmethods result in same accept-or-reject decision ifthe firm is not
constrained for funds in accepting allprofitable projects.
Conventional and Non-conventional Cash Flows
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A conventional investment has cash flows the pattern of an initial cash outlay followedby cash inflows. Conventional projects have only one change in the sign of cash flows;
for example, the initial outflow followed by inflows .i.e., + + +.
Anon-conventional investment, on the other hand, has cash outflows mingled withcash inflows throughout the life of the project. Non-conventional investments havemore than one change in the signs of cash flows; for example, + + + ++ +.
Lending and borrowing-type projects:
Project with initial outflow followed by inflows is a lending type project, and project
with initial inflow followed by outflows is a lending type project, Both are conventional
projects.
INFLATIONAND CAPITAL BUDGETING DECISIONS
Capital budgeting results would be unrealistic if the effects of inflation are not
correctly factored in the analysis. For evaluating the capital budgeting decisions; we require
information about cash flows-inflows as well as outflows. In the capital budgeting procedure,
estimating the cash flows is the first step which requires the estimation of cost and benefits of
different proposals being considered for decision-making. The estimation of cost and benefits
may be made on the basis of input data being provided by experts in production, marketing,
accounting or any other department. Mostly accounting information is the basis for estimating
cash flows. The Managerial Accountants task is to design the organizations information
system or Management Accounting System (MAS) in order to facilitate managerial decision
making. MAS parameters have to be designed on the basis for commonalities in the decisionprocess of executives involved in strategic capital budgeting decisions.
This has been emphasized and examined whether executives have similar preferences
regarding information which may be used in making strategic capital budgeting decisions.
The results indicate that executives have similar informational preferences, the preferred
information characteristics depend upon the stage of the decision, and environmental and
Cash Flows (Rs)
Project C0 C1 IRR NPV at 10%
X -100 120 20% 9
Y 100 -120 20% -9
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organizational structure variables are not associated with an executives informational
preferences.
Inflation and Cash Flows: As mentioned above, estimating the cash flows is the first step
which requires the estimation of cost and benefits of different proposals being considered for
decision-making. Usually, two alternatives are suggested for measuring the 'Cost and benefits
of a proposal i.e., the accounting profits and the cash flows.
In reality, estimating the cash flows is most important as well as difficult task. It is because of
uncertainty and accounting ambiguity.
Accounting profit is the resultant figure on the basis of several accounting concepts
and policies. Adequate care should be taken while adjusting the accounting data, otherwise
errors would arise in estimating cash flows. The term cash flow is used to describe the cash
oriented measures of return, generated by a proposal. Though it may not be possible to obtain
exact cash-effect measurement, it is possible to generate useful approximations based on
available accounting data. The costs are denoted as cash outflows whereas the benefits are
denoted as cash inflows. The relation between cash flows and Accounting Profit is discussed
in the subsequent Para, before a detailed discussion on effect ofInflation and cash flows is
done.
Cash Flows Vs Accounting Profit: The evaluation of any capital investment proposal is
based on the future benefits accruing for the investment proposal. For this, two alternative
criteria are available to quantify the benefits namely, Accounting Profit and Cash flows. This
basic difference between them is primarily due to the inclusion of certain non-cash items like
depreciation. This can be illustrated in the Table2:
TABLE 2
A COMPARISON OF
CASHFLOW AND ACCOUNTING PROFITAPPROACHES
Accounting Approach Cash flow Approach
Particulars Rs. Rs. Particulars Rs. Rs.
Revenue 1000 Revenue 1000
Less: Expenses Less: Expenses
Cash Expenses 400 Cash Expenses 400
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Depreciation 200 600 Depreciation 200 600
Earnings before Tax 400 Earnings before Tax 400
Tax @ 50% 200 Tax 200
Earning after Tax 200 Earning after Tax 200
Add: Depreciation 200
Cash flow 400
E ffects of Inflation on Cash Flows: Often there is a tendency to assume erroneously that,
when,both net revenues and the project cost rise proportionately, the inflationwould not have
much impact. These lines of arguments seem to be convincing, and it is correct for two
reasons. First, the rate used for discounting cash flows is generally expressed in nominal
terms. It would be inappropriate and inconsistent to use a nominal rate to discount cash flows
which are not adjusted for the impact of inflation. Second, selling prices and costs show
different degrees of responsiveness to inflation9. Estimating the cash flows is a constant
challenge to all levels of financial managers. To examine the effects of inflation on cash
flows, it is important to note the difference between nominal cash flow and real cash flow. It
is the change in the general price level that creates crucial difference between the two.
A nominal cash flow means the income received in terms rupees. On the other hand, a
real cash flow means purchasing power of your income. The manager invested Rs.10000 in
anticipation of 10 per cent rate of return at the end of the year. It means that the manager will
get Rs.11000 after a year irrespective of changes in purchasing power of money towards
goods or services. The sum ofRs.11000 is known as nominal terms, which includes the
impact of inflation. Thus, Rs. 1000 is a nominal return on investment of the manager. On the
other hand, (Let us assume the inflation rate is 5 per cent in next year. Rs.11000 next year and
Rs.10476.19 today are equivalent in terms of the purchasing power if the rate of inflation is 5
per cent.)Rs.476.19 is in real terms as it adjusted for the effect of inflation. Though the
managers nominal rate of return is Rs. 1000, but only Rs. 476 is real return. The same has been discussed with capital budg
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ABC Ltd is considering a new project for manufacturing of toys involving a capital
outlay ofRs.6 Lakhs. The capacity of the plant is for an annual production capacity 60000
toys and the capacity utilization is during the 3 years working life of
the project is indicated below:
Year 1 2 3
Capacity Utilization 60 75 100
The selling price per toy isRs.15 and contribution is 40 per cent. The annual
fixed costs, excluding depreciation are to be estimated Rs.28000 per annum. The depreciation
is 20 per cent and straight line method. Let us assume that in our example the rate of inflation
is expected to be 5 per cent.
TABLE 3
A COMPARISON OFREAL CASHFLOW AND NOMINAL CASH
FLOW
(Figures in Rupees)
Particulars/ Year 1 2 3
Sales Revenue 360000 450000 600000
Less: Variable Cost 216000 270000 360000
Depreciation 120000 120000 120000
Fixed Cost 28000 28000 28000Earnings before Tax 4000 32000 100000
Tax @ 50% - 16000 50000
Profit after tax - 16000 50000
Real Cash flow 116000 136000 170000
Inflation Adjustment (1.05)1 (1.05)
2 (1.05)
3
Nominal Cash flow 121800 149940 196796
Therefore, the finance manager should be consistent in treating inflation as the
discount rate is market determined. In addition to this, a companys output price should be
more than the expected inflation rate. Otherwise there is every possibility is to forego the
good investment proposal, because of low profitability. And also, future is always unexpected,
what will be the real inflation rate (may be more or less). Thus, in estimating cash flows,
along with output price, expected inflation must be taken into account. In dealing with
expected inflation in capital budgeting analysis, the financemanager has to be very careful for
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correct analysis. A mismatch can cause significant errors in decision making. Therefore the
finance manager should always remember to match the cash flows and discount rate as
mentioned below table 4.
TABLE 4
MATCH UP CASHFLOWSAND DISCOUNTRATE10
Cash flows Discount rate Yields
Nominal Cash flow Nominal discount rate Present Value
Real cash flow Real discount rate Present Value
Inflation and Discount Rate: The discount rate has become one of the centralconcepts of
finance. Some of its manifestations include familiar concepts such as opportunity cost, capital
cost, borrowing rate, lending rate and the rate of return on stocks or bonds11
. It is greatly
influenced in computing NPV. The selection of proper rate is critical which helps for making
correct decision. In order to compute net present value, it is necessary to discount future
benefits and costs. This discounting reflects the time value of money. Benefits and costs are
worth more if they are experienced sooner. The higher the discount rate, the lower is the
present value of future cash flows.
For typical investments, with costs concentrated in early periods and benefits
following in later periods, raising the discount rate tends to reduce the net present value.
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Thus, discount rate means the minimum requisite rate of return on funds committed to
the project. The primary purpose of measuring the cost of capital is its use as a financial
standard for evaluating investment projects.
E
ffects of Inflation on Discount Rate:
Using ofproper discount rate, depends onwhether the benefits and costs are measured in real or nominal terms. To be consistent and free from
inflation bias, the cash flows should match with discount rate. Considering the above
example, 10 per cent is a nominal rate of return on investment of the manager. On the other
hand, (Let us assume the inflation rate is 5 per cent, in next year), though the managers
nominal rate of return is 10 per cent, but only 4.76 percent is real rate of return. In order to
receive 10 per cent real rate of return, in view of 5 per cent expected inflation rate, the
nominal required rate of return would be 15.5%. The nominal discount rate (r) is a
combination of real rate (K), expected inflation rate (). This relationship is known as
Fishers effect, which may be stated as follows:
r = (1-K) (1- ) -1
The relationship between the rate of return and inflation in the real world is a tough
task to explain than the theoretical relationship described above. Experience shows that
deflation of any series of interest rates over time by any popular price index does not yield
relatively constant real rates of interest. However, this should not be interpreted as the current
rate of interest is properly adjusted for the actual rate of inflation, but only that it will contain
some expected rate of inflation. Furthermore, the ability of accurately forecasting the rate of
inflation is very rare.
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IMPLICATIONS
It is noted from the above analysis; effects of inflation significantly influence the capital
budgeting decision making process. If the prices of outputs and the discount rates are expected to
rise at the same rate, capital budgeting decision will not be neutral. The implications of expected
rate of inflation on the capital budgeting process and decision making are as follows:
a. The company should raise the output price above the expected rate of inflation. Unless ithas lower Net Present Value which may lead to forego the proposals and vice versa.
b. If the company is unable to raise the output price, it can make some internal adjustmentsthrough careful management of working capital.
c.
With respect of discount rate, the adjustment should be made through capitalstructure.
Conclusion
When a manager evaluates a project, or when a shareholder evaluates his/her investments, he/she
should consider various options before making any decisions. These decisions will probably be
wrong, at least to some extent, as it is extremely difficult to forecast the accurate decision. The
only way in which uncertainty can be reduced is to emphasis that the expenditure and benefits of
an investment should be measured in terms of cash. Thus investment should be evaluated on the
basis on the criterion, which compatible with the objective of shareholders wealth maximization.
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Reference
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