Charley's Family Steak House (A) Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for Charley's Family Steak House (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Charley's Family Steak House (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by E. Richard Brownlee II. The Charley's Family Steak House (A) (referred as “Charley's Steak” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Finance & Accounting. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Corporate governance, Costs, Financial analysis.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of Charley's Family Steak House (A) Case Study

Charley Turner, the owner of four Charley's Family Steak Houses located in a rapidly growing cosmopolitan city in eastern Texas, is about to meet with Alex Pearson, the new manager of Charley's Family Steak House No. 2, in mid-December 2007. The primary purpose of this meeting is to finalize the 2008 operating plan for the restaurant, and similar meetings are scheduled with the other restaurant managers. Turner has decided that, due to the growth of his business, he can no longer continue to manage the operation as he did when there were only one or two restaurants. Therefore, he is in the process of implementing a more formal and rigorous planning and budgeting process. The case describes the process through which Charley Turner and Alex Pearson reach agreement regarding the final operating plan for the restaurant for 2008. The description contained in the case is both detailed and thorough, and includes the basis on which annual revenues are projected as well as the basis on which each expense is forecast for the year. Students are asked to verify all the amounts shown in the 2008 operating plan and then to prepare a revised operating plan based on a more pessimistic sales forecast.

Case Authors : E. Richard Brownlee II

Topic : Finance & Accounting

Related Areas : Corporate governance, Costs, Financial analysis

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Charley's Family Steak House (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10002287)	-10002287	-	-
Year 1	3454232	-6548055	3454232	0.9434	3258709
Year 2	3977988	-2570067	7432220	0.89	3540395
Year 3	3968663	1398596	11400883	0.8396	3332166
Year 4	3249842	4648438	14650725	0.7921	2574179
TOTAL			14650725		12705450

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2703163

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Net Present Value
2. Profitability Index
3. Payback Period
4. Internal Rate of Return

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Charley's Steak shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
2. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Charley's Steak have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Charley's Family Steak House (A)

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Finance & Accounting Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Charley's Steak often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Charley's Steak needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10002287)	-10002287	-	-
Year 1	3454232	-6548055	3454232	0.8696	3003680
Year 2	3977988	-2570067	7432220	0.7561	3007930
Year 3	3968663	1398596	11400883	0.6575	2609460
Year 4	3249842	4648438	14650725	0.5718	1858108
TOTAL					10479178

The Net NPV after 4 years is 476891

(10479178 - 10002287 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10002287)	-10002287	-	-
Year 1	3454232	-6548055	3454232	0.8333	2878527
Year 2	3977988	-2570067	7432220	0.6944	2762492
Year 3	3968663	1398596	11400883	0.5787	2296680
Year 4	3249842	4648438	14650725	0.4823	1567246
TOTAL					9504945

The Net NPV after 4 years is -497342

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9504945 - 10002287 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Charley's Steak to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Charley's Steak has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Charley's Steak can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Charley's Steak, then the stock price of the Charley's Steak should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Charley's Steak should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of Charley's Family Steak House (A)

References & Further Readings

E. Richard Brownlee II (2018), "Charley's Family Steak House (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.