On cost of capital

Incineration, 88-89 Income statemenf 142-145 Income-tax effects on cost of capital, 248-249 on optimum economic pipe diameter, 366-367 on profitability evaluation, 300, 324... 

The measures described in Section XXIV-1.6.1 are intended to reduce the risk premium on cost of capital for the customer. For small battery type reactors the business risk would be transferred predominately to the supplier who must initially emplace a large factory for economy of mass production fabrication. Uncertainty in durability of the market may raise the supplier s cost of capital, but unlike a customer, his intent will be to spread business risk cost over many hundreds of replicate units. 

The price differential at which coal becomes competitive with gas depends on plant size and the cost of capital, but based on estimates by the International Energy Agency (21) the required price ratio for gas to coal in North America falls into the range of 3.1 to 3.7 on an equivalent energy basis ( /MJ). Current prices give a gas/coal cost ratio nearer 1.5 to 2.0. As a result, all projected new methanol capacity is based on natural gas or heavy oil except for the proposed coal-based plant in China. 

Prices. The price of commodity chemicals is based on cost of production, capital needs for expansion, and the ratio of supply to demand. Profit margins can drop under changing conditions, and unit price tends to be low. Specialty chemical prices vary widely. They are based on the value of a product or system to the customer. Profit margins can usuaHy be maintained, and unit price is higher than for commodity chemicals. 

In an economic comparison of these three common abatement systems, a 1991 EPA study (58) indicates extended absorption to be the most cost-effective method for NO removal, with selective reduction only matching its performance for small-capacity plants of about 200—250 t/d. Nonselective abatement systems were indicated to be the least cost-effective method of abatement. The results of any comparison depend on the cost of capital versus variable operating costs. A low capital cost for SCR is offset by the ammonia required to remove the NO. Higher tail gas NO... 

Fig. 1. Effect of energy use on total cost where total cost is the sum of capital and energy costs for the lifetime of the plant, discounted to present value. Point D corresponds to the design point if the designer uses an energy price that is low by a factor of four in projected energy price. Effects on costs of (a) pressure drop in piping, (b) pressure drop in exchangers, (c) heat loss through insulation, (d) reflux use, and (e) energy recovery through waste-heat boiler...

Discounted Ca.sh Flows. Because the flows below the cash flow box in Figure 1 tend to be arbitrary management decisions that are generally difficult to predict, the prediction of profitabiUty is based on the expected cash flows instead of earnings. As a result, some logical assumptions to account for the cost of capital and the recovery of the investment must be made. 

The internal return rate (IRR), a fixed point on the diagram, caimot be viewed as a measure of profitabihty, which should vary with the cost of capital (discount rate). Because the curvature of the total return curve caimot be predicted from the single IRR point, there is no way that the IRR can be correlated with profitabihty at meaningful discount rates. Even both end points, ie, the IRR and the total return at zero discount rate, are not enough to predict the curvature of the total return curve. 

These (NPV) data are plotted against the cost of capital, as shown in Fig. 9-12. The discounted-cash-flow rate of return is the value of i that satisfies Eq. (9-5). From Fig. 9-12, (NPV) = 0 at a (DCFRR) of 11.8 percent for project C and 14.7 percent for project D. Thus, on the basis of (DCFRR), project D is more profitable than project C. 

Comparisons on the Basis of Capitalized Cost A machine in a process generates a positive net cash flow of 1000. Two alternatives are available machine L, costing 2000, requires replacement every 4 years, and machine M, costing 3000, requires replacement every 6 years. Neither machine has any scrap value. The cost of capital is 10 percent. Which machine is the more profitable to operate ... 

Capital is at risk until the breakeven point has been reached. It is common practice to give consideration to the discounted breakeven point (DEEP), the time at which the (NPV) is zero when discounting at the cost of capital. At any time after the (DEEP), the project will have recovered its cost and provided a greater return on the capital than the cost of capital. It is customary for management to spread risk by diversifying the activities of a company among a portfoho of projects. 

The same money invested in a project with a (DCFRR) of 10 percent would, by Eq. (9-108), obtain an entrepreneurial return i = 8.37 percent on the whole investment, i.e., 8.37/ 100. Investment of the entrepreneur s own money would only achieve an aftertax return of (0.1)(1 — 0.40) = 6 percent on 50, or 3/ 100 of total investment. The incentive to the entrepreneur to manage the projeci thus corresponds to a tax-free income of 5.37/ 100 of total investment. In practice, money is borrowed from more than one source at different interest rates and at different tax liabihties. The effective cost of capital in such cases can be obtained by an extension of the above reasoning and is treated in detail by A. J. Merrett and A. Sykes Capital Budgeting and Company Finance, Longmans, London, 1966, pp. 30 8). 

It is an advantage to a company to be listed on a stock exchange since its investors can more easily sell their stock if they decide to do so. This increased hquidity makes investors more willing to accept a lower rate of return, which effectively lowers the cost of capital to the company. 

Cost of Capital The value of the interest rate of return used in calculating the net present value (NPV) of a project is usually referred to as the cost of capital. It is not a constant value since it depends on the financial structure of the company, the policy of the company toward a particular project, the local method of assessing taxation, and, in some cases, the measure of risk associated with the particular projec t. The last-named fac tor is best dealt with by calculating the entrepreneurs risk allowance inherent in the project i from Eq. (9-108), written in the form... 

In the absence of a rislc allowance the cost of capital becomes a technical financial computation based on sources of funds and company policy. As such it will usually be presented as a figure specified For use in a particular appraisal and is therefore of little concern to the projec t assessor. However, the following resume indicates the lands of Factors to be considered. 

We notice in particular that inflation does not affect quoted interest rates when assessing present values of cost of capital. It must, however, be taken into account in assessing the interest rate on the dividend which will be expected by investors. 

As has been stated, it is alternatively possible to assign to the cost of capital the best risk-free return available on the money. The assessment then proceeds as discussed in connection with Eq. (9-108). 

Capital investment decisions are best made within the context of a life-cycle cost analysis. Life-cycle cost analysis focuses on the costs incurred over the life of the investment, assuming only candidate investments are considered that meet minimally acceptable performance standards in terms of the non-inonetary impacts of the investment. Using life-cycle analysis, the capital investment decision takes into account not just the initial acquisition or purchase cost, but maintenance, energy use, the expected life of the investment, and the opportunity cost of capital. When revenue considerations are prominent, an alternative method of analysis such as net benefit or net present value may be preferred. 

Required revenues are the sum of operation and maintenance expenses, depreciation, taxes, and a return on rate base. The rate base is the total amount of fixed capital used by the utility in producing, transmitting, and delivering electricity. The return on rate base IS the weighted average cost of capital, including debt and equity sources. 

Where the process is a labor intensive, low-cost workers are required in numbers (for example, textiles and clothing). The cost of capital has little effect on the choice of location as capital sources can be from anywhere. The ability, however, to repatriate profits and the proceeds from the sales of assets and exposure to foreign exchange risk are important if the location options are abroad. This factor becomes more relevant, the greater the capital intensity of the project. 

B, n Can be estimated from the current cost of piping. a Will depend on the current cost of capital, around 10% in mid-1992. 

The capital cost rate tp reflects the company-specific interest rate applied to calculate capital costs on working capital like inventories and outstanding liabilities or used for net present value calculation. In case of market financed corporations, the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is used as opportunity capital cost rate. WACC considers the mixed financing structure of a company consisting of equity and debt capital4. 

The capital cost of air separation machinery is linked to both the size of the beds (which dictates the cost of piping valves), of course to molecular sieve inventory and to the size of the compressor required to run the process. A low product recovery may have little impact on the bed size factor but it has an enormous effect on the amount of gas required and on the cost of compressing that gas. Thus the recovery and bed size factors have direct links to the cost of capital and operations of air separation machines. 

The minimum acceptable rate of return (MARK) for a venture depends on a number of factors such as interest rate, cost of capital, availability of capital, degree of risk, economic project life, and other competing projects. Management will a(bust the MARK depending on any of the above factors to screen out the more attractive ventures. When a company invests in a venture, the investment must earn more than the cost of capital and should be able to pay dividends. 

Minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR) The level of return on investment, at or above the cost of capital, chosen as acceptable for discounting or cutoff purposes. 

The cost of capital is what it costs a company to borrow money from all sources, such as loans, bonds, and preferred and common stock. It is an important consideration in determining a company s minimum acceptable rate of return on an investment. A company must make more than the cost of capital to pay its debts and make a profit. From profits, a company pays dividends to the stockholders. If a company ignores the cost of capital to increase dividends to the stockholders, then management is not meeting its obligations to pay off outstanding debts. 

On this point, Grabowski and Vernon (1990,1994) estimate rates of return from investment in pharmaceutical research and development, and report values slightly higher than the associated cost of capital. In their latter study they conclude the estimated mean return on pharmaceutical industry new chemical entity (NCE) introductions forthe first half ofthe 1980s was 11.1% compared with the estimated (real) cost of capital of 10.5% over the same period (p. 404). This finding also suggests that one is unlikely to find major unexploited opportunities. Still, without determining a social optimum, one cannot make firm conclusions about the sufficiency of resources directed toward these activities. 

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