Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (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 Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Geoffrey G. Jones, Lana Ghanem. The Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) (referred as “Nuqul Elia” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Entrepreneurship, Globalization, Government, Product development.

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 Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) Case Study

The case is concerned with Elia Nuqul, the founder of Jordanian-based Nuqul Brothers, a large diversified business group. It shows how Nuqul, a Christian Palestinian whose family was forced to flee to Jordan after the creation of Israel in 1948, built a business in his new home, first in trading and later in consumer products such as hygienic paper mnaufacturing. The case shows the challenges of building such an entrepreneurial business in a developing region with high political instability. The case is positioned within the wider context of the regional conflict in Palestine and Israel, and it provides a vehicle for exploring the role and responsibility of entrepreneurs, if any, in such conflicts.

Case Authors : Geoffrey G. Jones, Lana Ghanem

Topic : Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Related Areas : Entrepreneurship, Globalization, Government, Product development

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10028594)	-10028594	-	-
Year 1	3471669	-6556925	3471669	0.9434	3275159
Year 2	3966921	-2590004	7438590	0.89	3530546
Year 3	3959898	1369894	11398488	0.8396	3324807
Year 4	3239686	4609580	14638174	0.7921	2566135
TOTAL			14638174		12696646

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668052

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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Nuqul Elia 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 Nuqul Elia 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 Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Nuqul Elia 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 Nuqul Elia 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	(10028594)	-10028594	-	-
Year 1	3471669	-6556925	3471669	0.8696	3018843
Year 2	3966921	-2590004	7438590	0.7561	2999562
Year 3	3959898	1369894	11398488	0.6575	2603697
Year 4	3239686	4609580	14638174	0.5718	1852301
TOTAL					10474403

The Net NPV after 4 years is 445809

(10474403 - 10028594 )

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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	(10028594)	-10028594	-	-
Year 1	3471669	-6556925	3471669	0.8333	2893058
Year 2	3966921	-2590004	7438590	0.6944	2754806
Year 3	3959898	1369894	11398488	0.5787	2291608
Year 4	3239686	4609580	14638174	0.4823	1562349
TOTAL					9501820

The Net NPV after 4 years is -526774

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9501820 - 10028594 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Nuqul Elia 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 Nuqul Elia has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Nuqul Elia 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 Nuqul Elia, then the stock price of the Nuqul Elia 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 Nuqul Elia 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 can impact the cash flow of the project.

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

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.

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 Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A)

References & Further Readings

Geoffrey G. Jones, Lana Ghanem (2018), "Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.