The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation 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 The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Jose Gomez-Ibanez. The The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation (referred as “Water Cap” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Economy, Innovation, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Pricing, Project management.

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 The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation Case Study

This case, designed to be used either together with The British Water Industry (B):Glas Cymru and the Debate over Nonprofits (1810.0) or separately, describes the controversies in the British water industry in 2002, 13 years after it was privatized. The (A) case (revised January 2006) focuses on the industry's experience with price-cap regulation, the system of controlling monopoly that the British applied to all the utilities they privatized in the 1980s and 1990s. The case is intended to support a discussion of the difficulties of regulating of monopolies and the advantages and disadvantages of the price-cap approach. The (B) case focuses on the controversy over the conversion of a major for-profit water company into a nonprofit water company and is designed to support a discussion of the merits of for-profit and nonprofit firms and the optimal capital structure of for-profit firms. The two cases are linked together in that some observers blame difficulties in utility regulation for generating interest in nonprofit utilities. HKS Case Number 1809.0

Case Authors : Jose Gomez-Ibanez

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Economy, Innovation, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Pricing, Project management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10001384)	-10001384	-	-
Year 1	3460788	-6540596	3460788	0.9434	3264894
Year 2	3960955	-2579641	7421743	0.89	3525236
Year 3	3967943	1388302	11389686	0.8396	3331561
Year 4	3225107	4613409	14614793	0.7921	2554587
TOTAL			14614793		12676278

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2674894

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

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

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation

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 Strategy & Execution 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 Water Cap 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 Water Cap 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	(10001384)	-10001384	-	-
Year 1	3460788	-6540596	3460788	0.8696	3009381
Year 2	3960955	-2579641	7421743	0.7561	2995051
Year 3	3967943	1388302	11389686	0.6575	2608987
Year 4	3225107	4613409	14614793	0.5718	1843965
TOTAL					10457384

The Net NPV after 4 years is 456000

(10457384 - 10001384 )

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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	(10001384)	-10001384	-	-
Year 1	3460788	-6540596	3460788	0.8333	2883990
Year 2	3960955	-2579641	7421743	0.6944	2750663
Year 3	3967943	1388302	11389686	0.5787	2296263
Year 4	3225107	4613409	14614793	0.4823	1555318
TOTAL					9486234

The Net NPV after 4 years is -515150

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9486234 - 10001384 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Water Cap 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 Water Cap has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Water Cap 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 Water Cap, then the stock price of the Water Cap 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 Water Cap 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 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 are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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

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 The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation

References & Further Readings

Jose Gomez-Ibanez (2018), "The British Water Industry (A): The Evolution of Price Cap Regulation Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.