Cochran Corporation has a weighted average cost of capital of 11 percent for projects of average risk. Projects of below-average risk have a cost of capital of 9 percent, while projects of above-average risk have a cost of capital equal to 13 percent. Projects A and B are mutually exclusive, whereas all other projects are independent. None of the projects will be repeated. The following table summarizes the cash flows, internal rate of return (IRR), and risk of each of the projects.
Year (t)Project A Project B Project C Project D Project E
O-200,000-100,000-100,000-100,000-100,000
166,00030,00030,00030,00040,000
266,00030,00030,00030,00025,000
366,00040,00030,00040,00030,000
466,00040,00040,00050,00035,000
IRR12.1114.03810.84816.63611.630
ProjectBelowBelowAverageAboveAbove
RiskAverageAverageAverageAverage
Which projects will the firm select for investment?
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D. E.A
Look at the NPV, IRR, and hurdle rate for each project:
ProjectABCDE -
Hurdle9.00%9.00%11.00%13.00%13.00%
NPV$13,822$11,998 -
IRR12.11%14.04%10.85%16.64%11.63% Projects A and B are mutually exclusive, so we pick project A because it has the largest NPV. Projects C, D, and E are independent so we pick the ones whose IRR exceeds the cost of capital, in this case, just D. Therefore, the projects undertaken are A and D.