Economic evaluations in chemical industry emerge from the need to select between a large number of options on how and where to manufacture a certain product. The amount of capital invested in a new manufacturing facility is based on estimates. Working capital needs to be provided as well before income from sales is obtained. When profit is made tax payments are applicable.
During the life-span of a manufacturing
facility the initial investment has to be earned back. Thus, depreciation is a compensation included
in the costs of goods sold (cost price of product), which reduces yearly the actual
value of the manufacturing assets or ‘’book value’’. Since depreciation is a
fixed cost, it is subtracted from the revenues of sales and consequently the
taxable income is decreased. Two depreciation methods are of common use:
Straight line
depreciation
Double declining
balance depreciation
D: Annual
depreciation
N: life span in years
I: Initial investment
R: Salvage value
In the second method, depreciation is
calculated as a fraction from the book value, and in the first year, it is
twice as in the first method. Accelerated depreciation is useful when high risk
projects are carried out.
In the financial report of a company, a balance
sheet states the assets (current assets: inventories and accounts
receivable; fixed assets: property,
plant equipment and intangible goodwill) and the liabilities (current
liabilities: accounts payable; fixed
liabilities: bank loans). The difference between them is called equity. Working capital is the difference between current
assets and current liabilities. Therefore:
ASSETS=LIABILITIES + EQUITY
IQ
Balance Sheet
|
Year 2010
|
Year 2009
|
Million €
|
||
ASSETS
|
||
Current Assets
|
||
Cash
|
1300
|
1200
|
Acounts Recievable
|
3500
|
3000
|
Inventories
|
5000
|
4500
|
Total Current Assets
|
9800
|
8700
|
Fixed
Assets
|
||
Property, Plant, Equipment
|
19500
|
18500
|
Accumulated Depreciation
|
10200
|
9700
|
Book Value
|
9300
|
8800
|
Intangible Assets
|
1300
|
1000
|
Total Fixed Assets
|
10600
|
9800
|
Total Assets
|
20400
|
18500
|
LIABILITIES
|
||
Current Liabilities
|
||
Accounts Payable
|
3000
|
2500
|
Short Term Loans
|
1000
|
900
|
Total Current Liabilities
|
4000
|
3400
|
Fixed Liabilities
|
||
Long Term Loans
|
7900
|
8300
|
Total Fixed Liabilities
|
7900
|
8300
|
Total Liabilities
|
11900
|
11700
|
EQUITY
|
||
Total Equity
|
8500
|
6800
|
LIABILITIES+EQUITY
|
20400
|
18500
|
There are several ratios to judge the financial
performance of a company:
Often inventories are subtracted in the calculation of
liquidity to determine the quick ratio of the company. Together with the income statement (which shows the
yearly profit or loss of a company), the balance
sheet provides other performance indicators:
IQ
Income Statement
|
2010
|
2009
|
Million
€
|
||
Net Sales
|
24900
|
23700
|
Other income
|
900
|
1000
|
TOTAL
|
25800
|
24700
|
Costs of goods sold
|
19500
|
18400
|
Administative Services
|
2350
|
2000
|
Amortization of Intangible Assets
|
200
|
150
|
R&D expenses
|
1100
|
1000
|
Interest expenses
|
350
|
350
|
TOTAL
|
23500
|
21900
|
Pre-Tax Operating
Income PTOI
|
2300
|
1800
|
Income Tax
|
500
|
400
|
After Tax
Operating Income ATOI
|
1800
|
1400
|
*Note that interest is deducted before taxes.
The Cash Flow Statement explains the difference
between the increase in equity from year 2009 to 2010 and the net income. This
difference reflects the payment of dividends to shareholders.
IQ
Cash Flow Statement
|
Year 2010
|
Year 2009
|
Million €
|
||
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
|
||
Net Income
|
1800
|
1400
|
Depreciation
|
700
|
700
|
Amortization of Intangible Assets
|
150
|
150
|
Deferred Tax Benefit
|
0
|
50
|
Increase in accounts recievable
|
-250
|
-200
|
Increase in inventory
|
-150
|
-250
|
Increase in accounts payable
|
250
|
100
|
Cash Provided
by Operating Activities
|
2500
|
1950
|
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
|
||
Purchase
|
-1500
|
-1300
|
Other
|
-150
|
0
|
Sales of Assets
|
0
|
150
|
Cash Used For
Investing Activities
|
-1650
|
-1150
|
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
|
||
Dividends paid to shareholders
|
-400
|
-500
|
Increase in
short-term borrowings
|
700
|
-300
|
Receipts of
long-term borrowings
|
1500
|
1800
|
Payments of long
term borrowings
|
-2500
|
-2300
|
buy-back of
common stocks
|
-350
|
-200
|
Cash Used for
Financing Activities
|
-1050
|
-1500
|
DECREASE IN CASH
|
-200
|
-700
|
In order for a company to finance a new
facility, capital can be provided from inside: as retained profits, by selling
assets (divestures) or by the emission of shares; and from outside, by means of
bank loans. Financers make their profit with a fixed interest in the loans,
while shareholders will be paid with dividends and with an increase in the
market value of their shares. Therefore, capital provided is composed of bank loans and
shareholders’ equity.
With the aim of avoiding deflation (or decrease in the general price level) that would cause
stagnation of the economy, a slight inflation
(or increase in the general price level) is established. As a result, the value
of money is going down with time. One component of the interest of a loan
compensates this loss of value: it is called real interest. Aditionally, a compensation for the risk of not
being paid back is added to yield the nominal
interest.
The cost of capital for a company of this mix between
loans and shareholders’ equity is expressed in the Weighted Average Cost of Capital:
Shareholders run a bigger risk than banks and have a
relatively high return of their capital. Interest expenses are tax deductible
and as a result, the costs of bank loans for the company are lower.
The project carried out by a company has to generate
profits in order to reward the providers of capital in terms of interest and
dividends. An easy method to evaluate small projects is the pay-back time, or the time needed for
the cumulative cash flow to equal the initial investment. Although the
simplicity of the method is a great advantage, it doesn’t take into account the
time value of money nor the operational life of the project. The present value
of future cash flows is calculated by using the WACC as the discount rate to
determine the discounted pay-back time of
a project. The Net Present Value
(NPV) is the cumulative discounted cash flows of a project at the end of its
operational life. The profitability index bears in mind the total initial
investment, in order to compare different projects:
The following
example illustrates these parameters:
Year
|
Nominal Cash Flow
|
Cumulative Cash Flow
|
Discounted Cash Flow
|
Cumulative Discounted
Cash Flow
|
0
|
-200
|
-200
|
-200
|
-200
|
1
|
-1000
|
-1200
|
-893
|
-1093
|
2
|
300
|
-900
|
239
|
-854
|
3
|
300
|
-600
|
214
|
-640
|
4
|
300
|
-300
|
191
|
-450
|
5
|
300
|
0
|
170
|
-279
|
6
|
300
|
300
|
152
|
-127
|
7
|
300
|
600
|
136
|
8
|
8
|
300
|
900
|
121
|
130
|
9
|
300
|
1200
|
108
|
238
|
10
|
300
|
1500
|
97
|
334
|
11
|
300
|
1800
|
86
|
421
|
12
|
-100
|
1700
|
-26
|
395
|
WACC
|
12%
|
Pay Back Time
|
5
y.
|
Discounted Pay Back Time
|
7
y.
|
NPV
|
395
|
PI
|
0,36
|
The negative cash flows extend at the beginning of the
project reflecting different payments (e.g. engineering, equipment and
construction), while at the end of the project life a negative cash flow is
shown due to dismantling costs.
The discount rate that yields a net present value of 0
is called the Internal Rate of Return
(IRR), the most common criterion to determine the feasibility of a project. If
the IRR is greater than the WACC or hurdle
rate the project is considered acceptable. Working with the example above,
representing the values of the NPV for different discount rates:
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