Risk Analysis, Real Options

and Capital Budgeting

 The Motivation
• In the summer of 2008, the movie Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch and
Christina Ricci, spun its wheels at the box office. The Speed Racer slogan
was “Go Speed Racer, Go!” but critics said, “Don’t go (see) Speed Racer,
Don’t go!” One critic said, “The races felt like a drag.” Others were even
more harsh, saying the movie “was like spending two hours caroming
through a pinball machine” and “a long, dreary, migraine-inducing slog.”

• Looking at the numbers, Warner Brothers spent close to $150 million

making the movie, plus millions more for marketing and distribution.
Unfortunately for Warner Brothers, Speed Racer crashed and burned at the
box office, pulling in only $90 million worldwide. In fact, about 4 of 10
movies lose money in theatres, though DVD sales often help the final tally.
Of course, there are movies that do quite well.

• Obviously, Warner Brothers didn’t plan to lose $60 or so million on Speed

Racer, but it happened. As the box office spinout of Speed Racer shows,
projects don’t always go as companies think they will. This motivates us to
explore how this can happen, and what companies can do to analyse and
possibly avoid these situations.
Sensitivity Analysis, Scenario Analysis, and Break-Even Analysis
 In our earlier lectures, it was noted that NPV analysis is a superior capital
budgeting technique. In fact, because the NPV approach uses cash flows rather
than profits, uses all the cash flows, and discounts the cash flows properly, it is
hard to find any theoretical fault with it.

 However, in practice, businesspeople use the phrase “a false sense of security”

frequently with NPV. They point out that the documentation for capital
budgeting proposals is often quite impressive. Cash flows are projected down to
the last thousand dollars (or even the last dollar) for each year (or even each
month). Opportunity costs and side effects are handled quite properly. Sunk
costs are ignored—also quite properly. When a high net present value appears at
the bottom, one’s temptation is to say yes immediately.

 Nevertheless, the projected cash flow often goes un-fulfilled in practice, and the
firm ends up with a money loser.

 How can the firm get the net present value technique to live up to its potential?
To answer this question, we focus our discussion to three types of analysis each
one of which allows us to look behind the NPV number to see how stable our
estimates are.
 Sensitivity Analysis
 One approach is sensitivity analysis, which examines how sensitive a particular
NPV calculation is to changes in underlying assumptions.
 Consider the following example. Solar Electronics Corporation (SEC) has recently developed
a solar-powered jet engine and wants to go ahead with full-scale production. The initial (year
1) investment is $1,500 million, followed by production and sales over the next five years.
The preliminary cash flow projection appears in the Table.

 Should SEC go ahead with investment and production of the jet engine, based on the NPV at
a discount rate of 15 percent (in millions)?
 Sensitivity Analysis

Because the NPV is positive, basic financial theory implies that SEC should accept the project.
However, is this all there is to say about the venture? Before actual funding, we ought to check
out the project’s underlying assumptions about revenues and costs.

Revenues:

Let’s assume that the marketing department has projected annual sales to be:

Thus, it turns out that the revenue estimates depend on three assumptions:
1. Market share.
2. Size of jet engine market.
3. Price per engine.
 Sensitivity Analysis
Costs:

 Financial analysts divide costs into two types: Variable costs and fixed costs.

o Variable costs change as the output changes, and they are zero when production is zero.
Costs of direct labour and raw materials are usually variable. It is common to assume that
a variable cost is constant per unit of output, implying that total variable costs are
proportional to the level of production. For example, if direct labour is variable and one
unit of final output requires $10 of direct labour, then 100 units of final output should
require $1,000 of direct labour.

o Fixed costs are not dependent on the amount of goods or services produced during the
period. Fixed costs are usually measured as costs per unit of time, such as rent per month
or salaries per year. Naturally, fixed costs are not fixed forever. They are fixed only over a
predetermined time period.
 The engineering department has estimated variable costs to be $1 million per engine. Fixed
costs are $1,791 million per year. The cost breakdowns are:
 Sensitivity Analysis
 These estimates for market size, market share, price, variable cost, and fixed cost, as
well as the estimate of initial investment, are presented in the middle column of the
Table below. These figures represent the firm’s expectations or best estimates of the
different parameters. For comparison, the firm’s analysts also prepared both
optimistic and pessimistic forecasts for each of the different variables. These
forecasts are provided in the table as well.
 Sensitivity Analysis
 Standard sensitivity analysis calls for an NPV calculation for all three possibilities of a single
variable, along with the expected forecast for all other variables. This procedure is illustrated
in the Table.

 For example, consider the NPV calculation of $8,154 million provided in the upper right
corner of this table. This NPV occurs when the optimistic forecast of 20,000 units per year is
used for market size while all other variables are set at their expected forecasts from the
earlier Table. Note that each row of the middle column of the Table below shows a value of
$1,517 million. This occurs because the expected forecast is used for the variable that was
singled out, as well as for all other variables.
 Sensitivity Analysis
• The earlier Table can be used for a number of purposes.
– First, taken as a whole, the table can indicate whether NPV analysis should be trusted. In other
words, it reduces the false sense of security we spoke of earlier. Suppose that NPV is positive when
the expected forecast for each variable is used. However, further suppose that every number in the
pessimistic column is highly negative and every number in the optimistic column is highly positive.
A change in a single forecast greatly alters the NPV estimate, making one jittery of the net present
value approach. A conservative manager might well scrap the entire NPV analysis in this situation.
Fortunately, the solar plane engine does not exhibit this wide dispersion because all but two of the
numbers in the Table are positive. Managers viewing the table will likely consider NPV analysis to
be useful for the solar-powered jet engine.

– Second, sensitivity analysis shows where more information is needed. For example, an error in the
estimate of investment appears to be relatively unimportant because, even under the pessimistic
scenario, the NPV of $1,208 million is still highly positive. By contrast, the pessimistic forecast for
market share leads to a negative NPV of –$696 million, and a pessimistic forecast for market size
leads to a substantially negative NPV of –$1,802 million. Because the effect of incorrect estimates
on revenues is so much greater than the effect of incorrect estimates on costs, more information
about the factors determining revenues might be needed.

• Because of these advantages, sensitivity analysis is widely used in practice. Graham and
Harvey (2001) reported that slightly over 50 percent of the 392 firms in their sample subject
their capital budgeting calculations to sensitivity analysis. This number is particularly large
when one considers that only about 75 percent of the firms in their sample use NPV analysis.
 Sensitivity Analysis
• Unfortunately, sensitivity analysis also suffers from some drawbacks.
– First, sensitivity analysis may unwittingly increase the false sense of
security among managers. Suppose all pessimistic forecasts yield positive
NPVs. A manager might feel that there is no way the project can lose
money. Of course, the forecasters may simply have an optimistic view of a
pessimistic forecast. To combat this, some companies do not treat optimistic
and pessimistic forecasts subjectively. Rather, their pessimistic forecasts are
always, say, 20 percent less than expected. Unfortunately, the cure in this
case may be worse than the disease: A deviation of a fixed percentage
ignores the fact that some variables are easier to forecast than others.

– Second, sensitivity analysis treats each variable in isolation when, in reality,

the different variables are likely to be related. For example, if ineffective
management allows costs to get out of control, it is likely that variable
costs, fixed costs, and investment will all rise above expectation at the same
time. If the market is not receptive to a solar plane engine, both market
share and price should decline together.
 Scenario Analysis
• Managers frequently perform scenario analysis, a variant of sensitivity analysis, to minimize
this problem. Simply put, this approach examines a number of different likely scenarios,
where each scenario involves a confluence of factors.
• As a simple example, consider the effect of a few airline crashes. These crashes are likely to
reduce flying in total, thereby limiting the demand for any new engines. Furthermore, even if
the crashes do not involve solar-powered aircraft, the public could become more averse to any
innovative and controversial technologies. Hence, SEC’s market share might fall as well.
• Suppose the cash flow calculations would look like those in the Table below under the
scenario of a plane crash. Given the calculations in the table, the NPV (in millions) would be:

A series of scenarios like this

might illuminate issues
concerning the project better
than the standard application of
sensitivity analysis would.
 Practice Problem 1
• Consider a project to supply Detroit with 55,000 tons of machine screws annually for automobile
production. You will need an initial $1,700,000 investment in threading equipment to get the project
started; the project will last for five years. The accounting department estimates that annual fixed costs
will be $520,000 and that variable costs should be $220 per ton; accounting will depreciate the initial
fixed asset investment straight-line to zero over the five-year project life. It also estimates a salvage value
of $300,000 after dismantling costs. The marketing department estimates that the automakers will let the
contract at a selling price of $245 per ton. The engineering department estimates you will need an initial
net working capital investment of $600,000. You require a 13 percent return and face a marginal tax rate
of 38 percent on this project.

1. What is the estimated OCF for this project? The NPV? Should you pursue this project?

2. Suppose you believe that the accounting department’s initial cost and salvage value projections are
accurate only to within ±15 percent; the marketing department’s price estimate is accurate only to within
±10 percent; and the engineering department’s net working capital estimate is accurate only to within ±5
percent. What is your worst-case scenario for this project? Your best-case scenario? Do you still want to
pursue the project?

3. Suppose you’re confident about your own projections, but you’re a little unsure about Detroit’s actual
machine screw requirements. What is the sensitivity of the project OCF to changes in the quantity
supplied? What about the sensitivity of NPV to changes in quantity supplied?
 Hints
1. We first need to calculate the taxes on the salvage value. To calculate
the taxes paid (or tax credit) on the salvage value, we take the book value
minus the market value, times the tax rate, which, in this case, would be:

Taxes on salvage value = (BV – MV)tC

Taxes on salvage value = ($0 – 300,000)(0.38)
Taxes on salvage value = –$114,000

So, the nominal after-tax salvage value is:

Market price $300,000

Tax on sale –$114,000
After-tax salvage value $186,000
 Hints
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Revenues 13475000 13475000 13475000 13475000 13475000

Fixed costs 520000 520000 520000 520000 520000
Variable costs 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000
Depreciation 340000 340000 340000 340000 340000
EBT 515000 515000 515000 515000 515000
Taxes 195700 195700 195700 195700 195700
Net income 319300 319300 319300 319300 319300
OCF 659300 659300 659300 659300 659300

Capital spending -1700000 186000

NWC -600000 600000

Total cash flow -2300000 659300 659300 659300 659300 1445300

OCF = $ 659,300
NPV = $445,519.88
The Project will be accepted
 Hints
2. Best Case Scenario

We first need to calculate the taxes on the salvage value. To calculate the
taxes paid (or tax credit) on the salvage value, we take the book value
minus the market value, times the tax rate, which, in this case, would be:

Taxes on salvage value = (BV – MV)tC

Taxes on salvage value = [$0 – (300,000x1.15)](0.38)
Taxes on salvage value = –$131,100

So, the nominal after-tax salvage value is:

Market price $345,000

Tax on sale –$131,100
After-tax salvage value $213,900
 Hints
Best Case Scenario

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Revenues 14822500 14822500 14822500 14822500 14822500

Fixed costs 520000 520000 520000 520000 520000
Variable costs 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000
Depreciation 289000 289000 289000 289000 289000
EBT 1913500 1913500 1913500 1913500 1913500
Taxes 727130 727130 727130 727130 727130
Net income 1186370 1186370 1186370 1186370 1186370
OCF 1475370 1475370 1475370 1475370 1475370

Capital spending -1445000 213900

NWC -570000 570000

Total cash flow -2015000 1494750 1494750 1494750 1494750 2259270

OCF = $ 1,475,370
NPV = $3,657,332.25
The Project will be accepted
 Hints
2. Best Case Scenario

We first need to calculate the taxes on the salvage value. To calculate the
taxes paid (or tax credit) on the salvage value, we take the book value
minus the market value, times the tax rate, which, in this case, would be:

Taxes on salvage value = (BV – MV)tC

Taxes on salvage value = [$0 – (300,000x0.85)](0.38)
Taxes on salvage value = –$96,900

So, the nominal after-tax salvage value is:

Market price $255,000

Tax on sale –$96,900
After-tax salvage value $158,100
 Hints
Worst Case Scenario

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Revenues 12127500 12127500 12127500 12127500 12127500

Fixed costs 520000 520000 520000 520000 520000
Variable costs 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000 12100000
Depreciation 391000 391000 391000 391000 391000
EBT -883500 -883500 -883500 -883500 -883500
Taxes -335730 -335730 -335730 -335730 -335730
Net income -547770 -547770 -547770 -547770 -547770
OCF -156770 -156770 -156770 -156770 -156770

Capital spending -1955000 158100

NWC -630000 630000

Total cash flow -2585000 -176150 -176150 -176150 -176150 631330

OCF = -$156,770
NPV = - $2,766,292.49
The Project will not be accepted
 Hints
3. Sensitivity of the project OCF to changes in the quantity supplied

To calculate the sensitivity to changes in quantity sold, we will choose a quantity of

56,000.
Sensitivity of the project OCF to changes in the quantity supplied

Revenues 13720000 13720000 13720000 13720000 13720000

Fixed costs 520000 520000 520000 520000 520000
Variable costs 12320000 12320000 12320000 12320000 12320000
Depreciation 340000 340000 340000 340000 340000
EBT 540000 540000 540000 540000 540000
Taxes 205200 205200 205200 205200 205200
Net income 334800 334800 334800 334800 334800
OCF 674800 674800 674800 674800 674800

Capital spending -1700000 186000

NWC -600000 600000

Total cash flow -2300000 659300 659300 659300 659300 1460800

The sensitivity of changes in the OCF to quantity sold is:

 OCF/  Q = ($659,300 – 674,800) / (55,000 – 56,000)

 OCF/  Q = +$15.50
 Hints
Sensitivity of the NPV to changes in the quantity supplied

To calculate the sensitivity to changes in quantity sold, we will choose a quantity of

56,000.
Sensitivity of the project OCF to changes in the quantity supplied

Revenues 13720000 13720000 13720000 13720000 13720000

Fixed costs 520000 520000 520000 520000 520000
Variable costs 12320000 12320000 12320000 12320000 12320000
Depreciation 340000 340000 340000 340000 340000
EBT 540000 540000 540000 540000 540000
Taxes 205200 205200 205200 205200 205200
Net income 334800 334800 334800 334800 334800
OCF 674800 674800 674800 674800 674800

Capital spending -1700000 186000

NWC -600000 600000

Total cash flow -2300000 659300 659300 659300 659300 1460800

NPV = $453,932.65
The sensitivity of changes in the NPV to quantity sold is:

 NPV/  Q = ($445,519.88 – 453932.65) / (55,000 – 56,000)

 NPV/  Q = +$8.41
 Break-Even Analysis

• Common tool for analyzing the relationship between sales

volume and profitability
• There are two common break-even measures
– Accounting break-even: sales volume at which net income
= 0. It does not cover the opportunity cost of the capital
(initial investment)
– NPV-based (or Financial or Economic) break-even: sales
volume at which net present value = 0. It is more properly
because the opportunity cost of the capital is taken into
consideration
 Break-Even Analysis: Accounting Profits
• Annual net profit under four different sales forecasts is as follows:

• A more complete presentation of costs and revenues appears in Table:

 Break-Even Analysis: Accounting Profits
• The break-even engines can be calculated as follows:

– Because the sales price is $2 million per engine and the variable cost
is $1 million per engine (though in the previous slides, we have
considered both optimistic and pessimistic forecasts for sales price
and variable cost, break-even analysis uses just the expected or best
estimates of these variables.), the difference between sales price and
variable cost per engine is:
Sales price – Variable cost = $2 million - $1 million = $1 million

This difference is called the pre-tax contribution margin because

each additional engine contributes this amount to pre-tax profit.

– Fixed costs are $1,791 million and depreciation is $300 million,

implying that the sum of these costs is $2,091 million. That is, the
firm incurs costs of $2,091 million per year, regardless of the number
of sales.
 Break-Even Analysis: Accounting Profits
– Because each engine contributes $1 million, annual sales must reach
the following level to offset the costs:

• Thus, 2,091 engines is the break-even point required for an accounting

profit.

• Taxes have been ignored in the calculation of break-even accounting

profit. The reason is that a firm with a pre-tax profit of $0 will also have an
after-tax profit of $0 because no taxes are paid if no pre-tax profit is
reported. Thus, the number of units needed to break -even on a pre-tax
basis must be equal to the number of units needed to break-even on an
after-tax basis.
 Break-Even Analysis: Present Value
• We are more interested in present value than we are in profit.
Therefore, we should calculate breakeven in terms of present
value. Given a discount rate of 15 percent, the solar plane
engine has the following net present values for different
levels of annual sales:

The break even point, is the # of Engines sold that generates

a NPV=$0.
 Break-Even Analysis: Present Value
Period 1 Periods 2 -6

Sales 2 * Engines Sold

Variable costs 1 * Engines Sold
Fixed costs 1791
Depreciation 300
EBIT (1*Engines Sold) - 2091
Taxes (.34*Engines Sold) - 710.94
Net income (.66*Engines Sold) - 1380.06
Operating cash flow (.66*Engines Sold) - 1080.06

Net cash flows

Operating cash flow (.66*Engines Sold) - 1080.06
Capital spending -1500
Total cash flow -1500 (.66*Engines Sold) - 1080.06
 Break-Even Analysis: Present Value
• The present value annuity factor of a 5 year cash flow at 15%
is 3.3522
• Thus, NPV = −1500 + 3.3522 (0 .66 x Engines Sold -1080.06)
• Solving for “Engines Sold”
0 = −1500 + 3.3522 ( 0.66 x Engines Sold -1080.06)
Engines Sold = 2314
• Thus, 2,314 engines is the break-even point from the
perspective of present value.
 Break-Even Analysis: Present Value
• Why is the accounting break-even point different from the financial break-
even point? When we use accounting profit as the basis for the break-even
calculation, we subtract depreciation. Depreciation for the solar jet engines
project is $300 million per year. If 2,091 solar jet engines are sold per year,
SEC will generate sufficient revenues to cover the $300 million
depreciation expense plus other costs. Unfortunately, at this level of sales
SEC will not cover the economic opportunity costs of the $1,500 million
laid out for the investment. If we take into account that the $1,500 million
could have been invested at 15 percent, the true annual cost of the
investment is $447.5 (=$1500 / 3.3522) million, not $300 million.
Depreciation understates the true costs of recovering the initial investment.
Thus companies that break even on an accounting basis are really losing
money. They are losing the opportunity cost of the initial investment.

• Is break-even analysis important? Very much so: All corporate executives

fear losses. Break-even analysis determines how far down sales can fall
before the project is losing money, either in an accounting sense or an NPV
sense.
 Practice Problem 2
• You are considering investing in a company that cultivates abalone for sale
to local restaurants. Use the following information:

The discount rate for the company is 15 percent. Assume the equipment is
depreciated on a straight-line basis over the project’s life and the project’s
economic life is seven years.

1. What is the accounting break-even level for the project?

2. What is the financial break-even level for the project?
 Hints
• The accounting breakeven is the (pre-tax) sum of the fixed costs and depreciation
charge divided by the contribution margin (selling price minus average variable
cost). So, the accounting breakeven level of sales is:

QA = (FC + D) / (P – AVC)
QA = ($750,000 + 51,429) / ($80 – 5.40) = 10,743.02, or about 10,743
abalones

[If we apply post-tax sum, the result is the same:

QA = [(FC + D)(1 – tC)] / [(P – AVC)(1 – tC)]

QA = [(($750,000 + 51,429) (1 – .35)] / [($80 – 5.40) (1 – .35)]
QA = 10,743.02, or about 10,743 abalones]
 Hints
• The initial investment is the $51,429 x 7 = $360,003. The break even point, is the #
of abalones sold that generates a NPV=$0.
Period 0 Periods 1-7

Revenues 80*No. of abalone sold

Variable Cost 5.40*No. of abalone sold
Fixed Cost 750000
Depreciation 51429
EBIT (74.6*No. of abalone sold)-801429
Taxes (26.11*No. of abalone sold)-280500.2
Net Income (48.49*No. of abalone sold)-520928.8
OCF (48.49*No. of abalone sold)-469499.8

Net Cash Flows

OCF (48.49*No. of abalone sold)-469499.8

Capital Spending -360003
Cash Flows -360003 (48.49*No. of abalone sold)-469499.8

The present value annuity factor of a 7 year cash flow at 15% is 4.1604
Thus, NPV = −360,003 + 4.1604 [(48.49*Abalones Sold) – 469499.8]
Solving for “Abalones Sold”: 0 = −360,003 + 4.1604 [(48.49*Abalones Sold) - 469499.8]
Abalones Sold = 11467.09
Thus, 13,588 abalones is the financial break-even level for the project.
 Practice Problem 3
• Your buddy comes to you with a sure-fire way to make some quick money
and help pay off your student loans. His idea is to sell T-shirts with the
words “I get” on them. “You get it?” He says, “You see all those bumper
stickers and T-shirts that say ‘got milk’ or ‘got surf.’ So this says, ‘I get.’
It’s funny! All we have to do is buy a used silk screen press for $3,200 and
we are in business!” Assume there are no fixed costs, and you depreciate
the $3,200 in the first period. Taxes are 30 percent.

1. What is the accounting break-even point if each shirt costs $7 to make and
you can sell them for $10 apiece?
2. Now assume one year has passed and you have sold 5,000 shirts! You find
out that the Dairy Farmers of America have copyrighted the “got milk”
slogan and are requiring you to pay $12,000 to continue operations. You
expect this craze will last for another three years and that your discount
rate is 12 percent. What is the financial break-even point for your
enterprise now?
 Hints
• The accounting breakeven is the (pre-tax) sum of the fixed costs and
depreciation charge divided by the contribution margin (selling price minus
average variable cost). In this case, there are no fixed costs, and the
depreciation is the entire price of the press in the first year. So, the
accounting breakeven level of sales is:

QA = (FC + D) / (P – AVC)
QA = ($0 + 3,200) / ($10 – 7) = 1,066.67, or about 1,067 shirts

[If we apply post-tax sum, the result is the same:

QA = [(FC + D)(1 – tC)] / [(P – AVC)(1 – tC)]

QA = [($0 + 3,200) (1 – .30)] / [($10 – 7) (1 – .30)]
QA = 1,066.67, or about 1,067 shirts ]
 Hints
• The initial investment is the $12,000 in licensing fees. Further, it may be noted that
there are no fixed costs or depreciation. The break even point, is the # of shirts sold
that generates a NPV=$0.
Period 1 Periods 2 -4

Sales 10 * Shirts Sold

Variable costs 7* Shirts Sold
Fixed costs
Depreciation
EBIT 3* Shirts Sold
Taxes (.9*Shirts Sold)
Net income (2.1*Shirts Sold)
Operating cash flow (2.1*Shirts Sold)

Net cash flows

Operating cash flow (2.1*Shirts Sold)
Capital spending -12000
Total cash flow -12000 (2.1*Shirts Sold)

The present value annuity factor of a 3 year cash flow at 12% is 2.4018
Thus, NPV = −12000 + 2.4018 (2.1 x Shirts Sold)
Solving for “Shirts Sold”: 0 = −12000 + 2.4018 (2.1 x Shirts Sold)
Shirts Sold = 2379.137
Thus, 2,379 shirts is the financial break-even point, i.e., from the perspective of present value.
 Real Options
• In earlier lectures, we stressed the superiority of net present value (NPV)
analysis over other approaches when valuing capital budgeting projects.
However, both scholars and practitioners have pointed out problems with NPV.
The basic idea here is that NPV analysis, as well as all the other approaches
(viz., IRR, Profitability Index, etc.), ignores the adjustments that a firm can
make after a project is accepted. These adjustments are called real options.

• One of the fundamental insights of modern finance theory is that options have
value. The phrase “We are out of options” is surely a sign of trouble. Because
corporations make decisions in a dynamic environment, they have options that
should be considered in project valuation.
 The Option to Expand
◦ Has value if demand turns out to be higher than expected
 The Option to Abandon
◦ Has value if demand turns out to be lower than expected
 The Option to Delay / Timing Options
◦ Has value if the underlying variables are changing with a favorable trend
 The Option to Expand
 Conrad Willig, an entrepreneur, recently learned of a chemical treatment causing
water to freeze at 100 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 32 degrees. Of all the many
practical applications for this treatment, Mr. Willig liked the idea of hotels made of
ice more than anything else. Conrad estimated the annual cash flows from a single
ice hotel to be $2 million, based on an initial investment of $12 million. He felt
that 20 percent was an appropriate discount rate, given the risk of this new venture.
Believing that the cash flows would be perpetual, Mr. Willig determined the NPV
of the project to be:
–$12,000,000 + $2,000,000/0.20 = –$2 million

 A digression: A perpetuity is a constant stream of cash flows without end. Consider

an investment that pays a coupon of C dollars each year and will do so forever.
Simply applying the PV formula gives us:

This is an infinite GP series and the amount that will give the investor C dollars each
year, and therefore the present value of the investment, is simply: PV = C/r
 The Option to Expand
 Most entrepreneurs would have rejected this venture, given its negative NPV.
But Conrad was not your typical entrepreneur. He reasoned that NPV analysis
missed a hidden source of value. While he was pretty sure that the initial
investment would cost $12 million, there was some uncertainty concerning
annual cash flows. His cash flow estimate of $2 million per year actually
reflected his belief that there was a 50 percent probability that annual cash
flows will be $3 million and a 50 percent probability that annual cash flows will
be $1 million.

 The NPV calculations for the two forecasts are given here:
Optimistic forecast: –$12 million + $3 million/.20 = $3 million
Pessimistic forecast: –$12 million + $1 million/.20 = –$7 million

 On the surface, this new calculation doesn’t seem to help Mr. Willig much. An
average of the two forecasts yields an NPV for the project of:
50% × $3 million + 50% × (–$7 million) = –$2 million
which is just the value he calculated in the first place.
 The Option to Expand
 However, if the optimistic forecast turns out to be correct, Mr. Willig would
want to expand. If he believes that there are, say, 10 locations in the country
that can support an ice hotel, the true NPV of the venture would be:
50% × 10 × $3 million + 50% × (–$7 million)= $11.5 million

The Figure, which represents Mr. Willig’s decision, is often called a decision
tree. The entrepreneur has the option to expand if the pilot location is
successful.
 The Option to Abandon
 Managers also have the option to abandon existing projects. It can often save
companies a great deal of money. Because of this, the option to abandon
increases the value of any potential project.

 The example of ice hotels can also illustrate the option to abandon. Imagine
that Mr. Willig now believes that there is a 50 percent probability that annual
cash flows will be $6 million and a 50 percent probability that annual cash
flows will be -$2 million. The NPV calculations under the two forecasts
become:
Optimistic forecast: –$12 million + $6 million/.2 = $18 million
Pessimistic forecast: –$12 million – $2 million/.2 = –$22 million
yielding an NPV for the project of:
50% × $18 million + 50% × (–$22 million) = –$2 million

 Furthermore, imagine that Mr. Willig wants to own, at most, just one ice
hotel, implying that there is no option to expand. Because the NPV is
negative, it looks as if he will not build the hotel.
 The Option to Abandon
 But things change when we consider the abandonment option. As of date 1, the
entrepreneur will know which forecast has come true. If cash flows equal those
under the optimistic forecast, Conrad will keep the project alive. If, however, cash
flows equal those under the pessimistic forecast, he will abandon the hotel. If Mr.
Willig knows these possibilities ahead of time, the NPV of the project becomes:
50% × $18 million + 50% × (–$12 million – $2 million/1.20) = $2.17 million

 Because Mr. Willig abandons after experiencing the cash flow of –$2 million at date
1, he does not have to endure this outflow in any of the later years. The NPV is now
positive, so Conrad will accept the project.

 Whereas many years may pass before a project is abandoned in the real world, the
ice hotel was abandoned after just one year. And, while salvage values generally
accompany abandonment, we assumed no salvage value for the ice hotel.
The Abandonment Option in the Movie Industry: An Example
The Abandonment Option in the Movie Industry: An Example

 Release of the movie is accompanied by significant advertising

expenditures. Advertising will continue following strong ticket sales, but it
will likely be abandoned after a few weeks of poor box office performance.

 Moviemaking is one of the riskiest businesses around, with studios

receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of weeks from a
blockbuster while receiving practically nothing during this period from a
flop. The abandonment options contain costs that might otherwise bankrupt
the industry.

 An example of a company actually exercising the option to abandon

occurred in 2005 when Sony Corporation announced that it was
withdrawing from the hand-held computer, or Personal Digital assistant
(PDA), market in Japan. What was somewhat surprising was that the
company was the market leader in sales at the time, with about one-third of
the market. However, PDA sales had been shrinking over the past three
years, in large part due to increased competition from smart phones that
have PDA capabilities. So, Sony concluded that the future market for
stand-alone devices was limited and bailed out.
The Abandonment Option in the Movie Industry: An Example

 Movies begin with either the purchase or development of a script. A completed

script might cost a movie studio a few crore rupees and potentially lead to actual
production. However, the great majority of scripts (perhaps well in excess of 80
percent) are abandoned. Why would studios abandon scripts that they commissioned
in the first place? The studios know ahead of time that only a few scripts will be
promising, and they don’t know which ones. Thus, they cast a wide net,
commissioning many scripts to get a few good ones. The studios must be ruthless
with the bad scripts because the expenditure here pales in comparison to the huge
losses from producing a bad movie..

 The few lucky scripts then move into production, where costs might be budgeted in
hundreds of crores of rupees. At this stage, the dreaded phrase is that on-location
production gets “bogged down,” creating cost overruns. But the studios are equally
ruthless here. Should these overruns become excessive, production is likely to be
abandoned midstream. Interestingly, abandonment almost always occurs due to high
costs, not due to the fear that the movie won’t be able to find an audience. Little
information on that score will be obtained until the movie is actually released.
 The Option to Delay / Timing Options
 One often finds urban land that has been vacant for many years. Yet this land is
bought and sold from time to time. Why would anyone pay a positive price for
land that has no source of revenue? Certainly, one could not arrive at a positive
price through NPV analysis. However, the paradox can easily be explained in
terms of real options.

 Suppose that the land’s highest and best use is as an office building. Total
construction costs for the building are estimated to be $1 million. Currently, net
rents (after all costs) are estimated to be $90,000 per year in perpetuity, and the
discount rate is 10 percent. The NPV of this proposed building would be:

–$1 million + $90,000/.10 = –$100,000

 Because this NPV is negative, one would not currently want to build. However,
suppose that the government is planning various urban revitalization programs
for the city. Office rents will likely increase if the programs succeed. In this
case, the property’s owner might want to erect the office building after all.
Conversely, office rents will remain the same, or even fall, if the programs fail.
The owner will not build in this case.
 The Option to Delay / Timing Options
 We say that the property owner has a timing
option. Although he does not currently want
to build, he will want to build in the future
should rents in the area rise substantially.
This timing option explains why vacant land
often has value. There are costs, such as
taxes, from holding raw land, but the value
of an office building after a substantial rise
in rents may more than offset these holding
costs. Of course the exact value of the
vacant land depends on both the probability
of success in the revitalization program and
the extent of the rent increase.

 Mining operations provide timing options as well. Suppose you own a copper mine where
the cost of mining each ton of copper exceeds the sales revenue. It’s a no-brainer to say that
you would not want to mine the copper currently. And because there are costs of ownership
such as property taxes, insurance, and security, you might actually want to pay someone to
take the mine off your hands. However, one needs to be cautious to do so hastily. Copper
prices in future might increase enough so that production is profitable. Given that possibility,
you could likely find someone who would pay a positive price for the property today.
 The Real Options: Sum -Up
 To sum up, managers adjust their decisions on the basis
of new information. For example, a project may be
expanded if early experience is promising, whereas the
same project might be abandoned in the wake of bad
results. As we said earlier, the choices available to
managers are called real options and an individual
project can often be viewed as a series of real options,
leading to valuation approaches beyond the basic present
value methodology of earlier lectures.
Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study
 Let us revisit the following example. Solar Electronics Corporation (SEC) has
recently developed a solar-powered jet engine and wants to go ahead with full-
scale production. The initial (year 1) investment is $1,500 million, followed by
production and sales over the next five years. The preliminary cash flow
projection appears in the Table.
 Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study
 Let’s move back one year to year 0, when SEC’s decision was more complicated. At
that time, the engineering group had developed the technology for a solar-powered
plane engine, but test marketing had not begun. The marketing department proposed
that SEC develop some prototypes and conduct test marketing of the engine. A
corporate planning group, including representatives from production, marketing, and
engineering, estimated that this preliminary phase would take a year and cost $100
million. Furthermore, the group believed there was a 75 percent chance that the
marketing test would prove successful. After completion of the marketing tests, SEC
would decide whether to engage in full-scale production, necessitating the
investment of $1,500 million.

 The marketing tests add a layer of complexity to the analysis. How do we analyse
whether to go ahead with the marketing tests in the first place? This is where
decision trees come in.

 To recap, SEC faces two decisions. First the firm must decide whether to go ahead
with the marketing tests. And if the tests are performed, the firm must decide
whether the results of the tests warrant full-scale production. The important point
here, as we will see, is that decision trees answer the two questions in reverse order.
So let’s work backward, first considering what to do with the results of the tests,
which can be either successful or unsuccessful.
Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study
Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study
 Assume tests have been successful (75 percent probability). The full-scale
production will cost $1,500 million and will generate an annual cash flow
of $900 million for five years, yielding an NPV of:

 Because the NPV is positive, successful marketing tests should lead to full-
scale production. (Note that the NPV is calculated as of year 1, the time at
which the investment of $1,500 million is made. Later we will discount this
number back to year 0, when the decision on test marketing is to be made.)

 Assume tests have not been successful (25 percent probability). We assume
that SEC’s $1,500 million investment would produce an NPV of -$3,611
million, calculated as of year 1. Because the NPV here is negative, SEC
will not want full-scale production if the marketing tests are unsuccessful.
Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study
Decision on marketing tests:

 Now we know what to do with the results of the marketing tests. Let’s use
these results to move back one year. That is, we now want to figure out
whether SEC should invest $100 million for the test marketing costs in the
first place. The expected payoff evaluated at date 1 (in millions) is:

 The NPV of testing computed at date 0 (in millions) is:

 Because the NPV is positive, the firm should test the market for solar-
powered jet engines.
Solar Electronics Corporation: The Case Study

Sum-Up:

 As can be seen from the figure, SEC must make the following two decisions:
1. Whether to develop and test the solar-powered jet engine.
2. Whether to invest for full-scale production following the results of the test.

 Using a decision tree, we answered the second question before we answered the
first one.
 Practice Problem 4
• Consider the following project for Hand Clapper, Inc. The company is considering
a four-year project to manufacture clap-command garage door openers. This
project requires an initial investment of $10 million that will be depreciated
straight-line to zero over the project’s life. An initial investment in net working
capital of $1.3 million is required to support spare parts inventory; this cost is fully
recoverable whenever the project ends. The company believes it can generate
$7.35 million in pre-tax revenues with $2.4 million in total pre-tax operating costs
per year. The tax rate is 38 percent, and the discount rate is 16 percent. The market
value of the equipment over the life of the project is as follows:

1. Assuming Hand Clapper operates this project for four years, what is the NPV?
2. Now compute the project NPVs assuming the project is abandoned after three
years. What economic life for this project maximizes its value to the firm?
 Hints
1. Assuming we operate the project for all four years, the cash flows are:

Period 0 Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4

Sales 7350000 7350000 7350000 7350000
Operating costs 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000
Depreciation 2500000 2500000 2500000 2500000
EBT 2450000 2450000 2450000 2450000
Tax 931000 931000 931000 931000
Net income 1519000 1519000 1519000 1519000
Operating CF 4019000 4019000 4019000 4019000

Change in NWC -1300000 1300000

Capital spending -10000000
Total cash flow -11300000 4019000 4019000 4019000 5319000

There is no salvage value for the equipment. The NPV is:

NPV = –$11,300,000 + $4,019,000(PVIFA16%,3) + $5,319,000 / 1.164

NPV = $663,866.41
 Hints
2. If we abandon the project after three years, the after-tax salvage value can be
calculated as follows:
The book value of the equipment is:

Book value = $10,000,000 – (3)($10,000,000 / 4)

Book value = $2,500,000

So the taxes on the salvage value will be:

Taxes = ($2,500,000 – 3,800,000)(.38)

Taxes = - $494,000

This makes the after-tax salvage value:

After-tax salvage value = $3,800,000 – 494,000

After-tax salvage value = $3,306,000
 Hints
• If we abandon the project after three years, the cash flows are:

Period 0 Period 1 Period 2 Period 3

Sales 7350000 7350000 7350000
Operating costs 2400000 2400000 2400000
Depreciation 2500000 2500000 2500000
EBT 2450000 2450000 2450000
Tax 931000 931000 931000
Net income 1519000 1519000 1519000
Operating CF 4019000 4019000 4019000

Change in NWC -1300000 1300000

Capital spending -10000000 3306000
Total cash flow -11300000 4019000 4019000 8625000

The NPV if we abandon the project after three years is:

NPV = –$11,300,000 + $4,019,000(PVIFA16%,2) + $8,625,000 / 1.163

NPV = $677,099.30

We should abandon the equipment after three years since the NPV of abandoning the
project after three years has the higher NPV.
 Practice Problem 5

• Applied Nanotech is thinking about introducing a new surface

cleaning machine. The marketing department has come up with the
estimate that Applied Nanotech can sell 15 units per year at
$410,000 net cash flow per unit for the next five years. The
engineering department has come up with the estimate that
developing the machine will take a $17 million initial investment.
The finance department has estimated that a 25 percent discount
rate should be used.

1. What is the base-case NPV?

2. If unsuccessful, after the first year the project can be dismantled
and will have an after-tax salvage value of $11 million. Also, after
the first year, expected cash flows will be revised up to 20 units
per year or to 0 units, with equal probability. What is the revised
NPV?
 Hints
1. The NPV of the project is sum of the present value of the cash flows
generated by the project. The annual cash flow for the project is the number of
units sold times the cash flow per unit, which is:

Annual cash flow = 15($410,000)

Annual cash flow = $6,150,000

The cash flows from this project are an annuity, so the NPV is:

NPV = –$17,000,000 + $6,150,000(PVIFA25%,5)

NPV = –$460,928
 Hints
2. The company will abandon the project if unit sales are not revised upward. If the
unit sales are revised upward, the after-tax cash flows for the project over the last
four years will be:

New annual cash flow = 20($410,000)

New annual cash flow = $8,200,000

The NPV of the project will be the initial cost, plus the expected cash flow in Year
1 based on the 15 unit sales projection, plus the expected value of abandonment,
plus the expected value of expansion. We need to remember that the abandonment
value occurs in Year 1, and the present value of the expansion cash flows are in
Year 1, so each of these must be discounted back to today. So, the project NPV
under the abandonment or expansion scenario is:

NPV = –$17,000,000 + $6,150,000 / 1.25 + 0.50($11,000,000) / 1.25

+ [0.50($8,200,000)(PVIFA25%,4)] / 1.25
NPV = $66,048
 Practice Problem 6

• Young screenwriter Carl Draper has just finished his first script. It
has action, drama, and humour, and he thinks it will be a
blockbuster. He takes the script to every motion picture studio in
town and tries to sell it but to no avail. Finally, ACME studios
offers to buy the script for either (a) $12,000 or (b) 1 percent of the
movie’s profits. There are two decisions the studio will have to
make. First is to decide if the script is good or bad, and second if
the movie is good or bad. First, there is a 90 percent chance that the
script is bad. If it is bad, the studio does nothing more and throws
the script out. If the script is good, they will shoot the movie. After
the movie is shot, the studio will review it, and there is a 70 percent
chance that the movie is bad. If the movie is bad, the movie will
not be promoted and will not turn a profit. If the movie is good, the
studio will promote heavily; the average profit for this type of
movie is $20 million. Carl rejects the $12,000 and says he wants
the 1 percent of profits. Was this a good decision by Carl?
 Hints
The payoff from taking the lump sum is $12,000, so we need to compare this
to the expected payoff from taking 1 percent of the profit. The decision tree for
the movie project is:

Promoted

30% $20,000,000
Movie is
good
Make
10% movie
Script is Movie is
good bad
Read Not
script 70% Promoted
Script is
bad No profit
Don't
make
90% movie
No profit
 Hints
The value of 1 percent of the profits is as follows. There is a 30 percent probability
the movie is good, and the studio will promote heavily, so the expected value of
this outcome is:

Value = $20,000,000 × 0.30

Value = $6,000,000

The value if the movie is good, and has a heavy promotion, assuming the script is
good is:

Value = $6,000,000 ×0.10

Value = $600,000

This is the expected value for the studio, but the screenwriter will only receive 1
percent of this amount, so the payment to the screenwriter will be:

Payment to screenwriter = $600,000 × .01

Payment to screenwriter = $6,000

The screenwriter should take the upfront offer of $12,000.