Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down 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 Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Yanling Guan, Mary Ho. The Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down (referred as “Cdos Merrill” 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, Financial analysis, Financial management, Risk 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 Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down Case Study

Since late 2003, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc ("Merrill Lynch") had become the world's largest underwriter of collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs"). The assets of CDOs comprised some of the riskiest tranches of mortgage-backed securities mostly tied to subprime mortgages. With the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and declining liquidity in the summer of 2007, Merrill Lynch was caught with a substantial number of CDOs that had diminished sharply in value. Disillusioned with chief executive Stanley O'Neal's leadership, the management of Merrill Lynch called for a series of meetings to assess the firm's exposure to subprime-backed CDOs and redefine its risk-management strategy. To the management, an embarrassing write-down seemed inevitable for the third quarter of 2007, but how much of such assets should be written down and how quickly? What would be the implications for the firm in making such an announcement?

Case Authors : Yanling Guan, Mary Ho

Topic : Finance & Accounting

Related Areas : Corporate governance, Financial analysis, Financial management, Risk management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10028528)	-10028528	-	-
Year 1	3451811	-6576717	3451811	0.9434	3256425
Year 2	3959233	-2617484	7411044	0.89	3523703
Year 3	3936647	1319163	11347691	0.8396	3305285
Year 4	3222896	4542059	14570587	0.7921	2552835
TOTAL			14570587		12638249

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2609721

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

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 Cdos Merrill 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. Cdos Merrill 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 Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down

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 Cdos Merrill 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 Cdos Merrill 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	(10028528)	-10028528	-	-
Year 1	3451811	-6576717	3451811	0.8696	3001575
Year 2	3959233	-2617484	7411044	0.7561	2993749
Year 3	3936647	1319163	11347691	0.6575	2588409
Year 4	3222896	4542059	14570587	0.5718	1842701
TOTAL					10426434

The Net NPV after 4 years is 397906

(10426434 - 10028528 )

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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	(10028528)	-10028528	-	-
Year 1	3451811	-6576717	3451811	0.8333	2876509
Year 2	3959233	-2617484	7411044	0.6944	2749467
Year 3	3936647	1319163	11347691	0.5787	2278152
Year 4	3222896	4542059	14570587	0.4823	1554252
TOTAL					9458380

The Net NPV after 4 years is -570148

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9458380 - 10028528 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Cdos Merrill 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 Cdos Merrill has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Cdos Merrill 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 Cdos Merrill, then the stock price of the Cdos Merrill 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 Cdos Merrill 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 –

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

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

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 Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down

References & Further Readings

Yanling Guan, Mary Ho (2018), "Merrill Lynch's Asset Write-Down Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.