The CarCare Garage is considering an investment in a new tune-up computer. The cost of the computer is $48,000. A cost analyst has calculated the discounted present value of the expected cash flows from the computer to be $52,650, based on the firm’s cost of capital of 12%. What is the expected return on investment of the machine, relative to 12%? Explain your answer. The payback period of the investment in the machine is expected to be 4.25 years. How much weight should this measurement carry in the decision about whether or not to invest in the machine? Explain your answer.
How do non-time-value-of-money measures like payback period compare with time-value-of-money measures like NPV & IRR in decision making regarding capital projects?
Also, if there was a considerable degree of risk as to the likely future cash flows (such as because of competition hurting future sales volume) should the firm consider using a different discount factor than its historical 12% cost of capital? Why or why not?