Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) 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 Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Ken Mark, Gerard Seijts. The Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) (referred as “Esso Bilanaust” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Leadership & Managing People. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Communication, Human resource management, International business, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, Recession, Strategic planning.

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 Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) Case Study

By December 2006, Hermann Gudmundsson (the chief executive officer of both Esso Iceland and Bilanaust) had spent the past 10 months evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of both organizations, and determined that the best approach going forward would be to, "consider creating a new organization with a new structure and a new brand name." He weighed the advantages, disadvantages and costs of either retaining two separate companies and their associated brand-image, or merging into one new organization. Gudmundsson was facing resistance from both the board of directors and three different advertising agencies to forgo the Esso brand; but with an ultimate mandate to increase shareholder value he needed to figure out the best method, from a branding perspective, to achieve that objective.

Case Authors : Ken Mark, Gerard Seijts

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Communication, Human resource management, International business, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, Recession, Strategic planning

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10005382)	-10005382	-	-
Year 1	3443936	-6561446	3443936	0.9434	3248996
Year 2	3982933	-2578513	7426869	0.89	3544796
Year 3	3952634	1374121	11379503	0.8396	3318708
Year 4	3232696	4606817	14612199	0.7921	2560598
TOTAL			14612199		12673098

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2667716

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. Profitability Index
2. Net Present Value
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. Esso Bilanaust 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 Esso Bilanaust 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 Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C)

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 Leadership & Managing People 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 Esso Bilanaust 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 Esso Bilanaust 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	(10005382)	-10005382	-	-
Year 1	3443936	-6561446	3443936	0.8696	2994727
Year 2	3982933	-2578513	7426869	0.7561	3011670
Year 3	3952634	1374121	11379503	0.6575	2598921
Year 4	3232696	4606817	14612199	0.5718	1848304
TOTAL					10453622

The Net NPV after 4 years is 448240

(10453622 - 10005382 )

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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	(10005382)	-10005382	-	-
Year 1	3443936	-6561446	3443936	0.8333	2869947
Year 2	3982933	-2578513	7426869	0.6944	2765926
Year 3	3952634	1374121	11379503	0.5787	2287404
Year 4	3232696	4606817	14612199	0.4823	1558978
TOTAL					9482254

The Net NPV after 4 years is -523128

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9482254 - 10005382 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Esso Bilanaust 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 Esso Bilanaust has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Esso Bilanaust 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 Esso Bilanaust, then the stock price of the Esso Bilanaust 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 Esso Bilanaust 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 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 will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What can impact the cash flow of 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.

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 Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C)

References & Further Readings

Ken Mark, Gerard Seijts (2018), "Merging Esso Iceland and Bilanaust (C) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.