Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Sanderson Farms case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by George Athanassakos, Ningyu (Michael) Geng, Yinghua (Andy) Sun. The Sanderson Farms (referred as “Sanderson Farms” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Finance & Accounting. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Financial analysis, Financial 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 Sanderson Farms Case Study

A new investment analyst with Alpha Value Fund was working on a presentation he was to make to the fund's investment committee, recommending an investment of $50 million in Sanderson Farms. Sanderson Farms was one of the leading poultry processors in the United States. Their stock had closed that day with a share price of $22.62 on the New York Stock Exchange. Eight months ago, the stock was trading at $48 per share. However, with the threat of an epidemic outbreak of avian flu and because of the losses incurred from hurricane Katrina, the share price plummeted. The investment analyst believed that the markets were over-reacting and, based on his analysis, Sanderson Farms presented a value candidate. He knew he had to be persuasive given the fund's preference for stable business and his relative lack of experience as an analyst.

Case Authors : George Athanassakos, Ningyu (Michael) Geng, Yinghua (Andy) Sun

Topic : Finance & Accounting

Related Areas : Financial analysis, Financial management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Sanderson Farms Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10011461)	-10011461	-	-
Year 1	3459742	-6551719	3459742	0.9434	3263908
Year 2	3964155	-2587564	7423897	0.89	3528084
Year 3	3964549	1376985	11388446	0.8396	3328712
Year 4	3241377	4618362	14629823	0.7921	2567474
TOTAL			14629823		12688177

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2676716

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. Internal Rate of Return
2. Profitability Index
3. Payback Period
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 Sanderson Farms 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. Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms

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 Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms 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	(10011461)	-10011461	-	-
Year 1	3459742	-6551719	3459742	0.8696	3008471
Year 2	3964155	-2587564	7423897	0.7561	2997471
Year 3	3964549	1376985	11388446	0.6575	2606755
Year 4	3241377	4618362	14629823	0.5718	1853268
TOTAL					10465965

The Net NPV after 4 years is 454504

(10465965 - 10011461 )

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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	(10011461)	-10011461	-	-
Year 1	3459742	-6551719	3459742	0.8333	2883118
Year 2	3964155	-2587564	7423897	0.6944	2752885
Year 3	3964549	1376985	11388446	0.5787	2294299
Year 4	3241377	4618362	14629823	0.4823	1563164
TOTAL					9493467

The Net NPV after 4 years is -517994

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9493467 - 10011461 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms, then the stock price of the Sanderson Farms 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 Sanderson Farms 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 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.

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.

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 Sanderson Farms

References & Further Readings

George Athanassakos, Ningyu (Michael) Geng, Yinghua (Andy) Sun (2018), "Sanderson Farms Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.