Average accounting return

It is defined as:
Some measure of average accounting profit
Some measure of average accounting value
Specifically:
Average net income /Average book value
Suppose we are deciding whether or not to open a store in a new shopping center.
•The required investment in improvements is $500,000
•The store has a 5-years life, as everything reverts to the owners of the shopping center after that time.
•The required investment would be 100% depreciated over 5 years, i.e.
$500,000 / 5 = $100,000 per year
•Tax rate is 25%
Average Accounting Return
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Revenue $433,333 $450,000 $266,667 $200,000 $133,333
Expenses 200,000 150,000 100,000 100,000 100,000
Earnings before Depreciation

$233,333 $300,000 $166,667 $100,000 $ 33,333

Depreciation 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000
Earnings before taxes $133,333 $200,000 $ 66,667 $ 0 -$ 66,667
Taxes (25%) 33,333 50,000 16,667 0 - 16,667
Net income $100,000 $150,000 $ 50,000 $ 0 -$ 50,000

•Average net income is:

[$100,000 + 150,000 +50,000 + 0 +(-50,000)]/5 = $50,000
•Average book value =
•($500,000 + 0) / 2 = $250,000
•The average accounting return is:
Average net income = $50,000
“A project is acceptable if its average accounting return exceeds a target average accounting
return”
•Drawbacks of AAR
•It is not a rate of return in any meaningful economic sense, as it ignores time value of money
•It lacks an objective or target AAR to be compared with
•It focuses on net income and book value rather than cash flow and market value
•Advantages
•Easy to calculate
Average book value = ($500,000 + 0) / 2 = $250,000

The average accounting return is: = =

“A project is acceptable if its average accounting return exceeds a target average accounting return”

Drawbacks of AAR

a) It is not a rate of return in any meaningful economic sense, as it ignores time value of money
b) It lacks an objective or target AAR to be compared with
c) It focuses on net income and book value rather than cash flow and market value
Advantages

a) Easy to calculate
b) Needed information will usually be available

Internal Rate of Return

 With IRR we try to find a single rate of return that summarizes the merits of a project

 We want this rate to be an “internal” rate in the sense that it only depends on the cash flows of a
particular investment, not on rates offered elsewhere

 Consider a project that costs $100 today and pays $110 in one year.

 Obviously it pays a return of 10%, since it pays $1.10 for every dollar we put in.

 This 10% is in fact the internal rate of return.

“Based on IRR rule an investment is acceptable if the IRR exceeds the required return. It should be
rejected otherwise”

 Now for our example, NPV for the investment at discount rate R is:

NPV = 0 = -$100+ $110/ (1+IRR)

Now if we don’t know the discount rate, it represents a problem. But still we could ask, how high the
discount rate would have to be before this project was unacceptable.

The investment is economically a break-even proposition when the NPV is zero because the value is
neither created nor destroyed.

To find the break-even discount rate, we set NPV equal to zero and solve for R

NPV = 0 = -$100 + 110/(1 + R)]

$100 = $110/(1 + R)

1 + R = $110/100 = 1.10

R = 10%

“the IRR on an investment is the required return that results in a zero NPV when it is used as the
discount rate”

•The fact that the IRR is simply the discount rate that makes the NPV equal to zero is important because
it tells us how to calculate the return on more complicated investments
•Suppose you are looking at an investment with the cash flows $60 per year for two years

•With our understanding on calculating IRR by equating NPV to zero: NPV = 0 = -$100 + 60/(1 + IRR) +
60/(1 + IRR)2

•The only way to find IRR in general is by trial and error method

•If we start with a 0% rate, then NPV = $120 – 100 = $20

•At 10% discount rate: NPV = -$100 + 60/1.1 + 60/1.12 = $4.13

•We are getting closer!

•These and other possibilities are summarized in the following table

Discount Rate NPV

0% $20.00

5 11.56

10 4.13

15 -2.46

20 -8.33

Internal Rate of Return

•NPV appears to be zero between 10% and 15%, so IRR is somewhere in that range

•With a little effort we can find that the IRR is about 13.1%

•So if our required return is less than 13.1% we would take this investment, otherwise reject it