Ten years ago, based on a before tax NPV analysis, Johnson Wholesaling decided to add a new product line. The data used in the analysis were as follows:

Discount rate

12%

Life of product line

10 years

Annual sales increase:

Years 1–4

$125,000

Years 5–8

$175,000

Years 9–10

$100,000

Annual fixed cash costs

$20,000

Contribution margin ratio

40%

Cost of production equipment

$125,000

Investment in working capital

$10,000

Salvage value

$0

Because the product line was discontinued this year, corporate managers decided to conduct a post investment audit to assess the accuracy of their planning process. Accordingly, the actual cash flows generated from the product line were estimated to be as follows:

Actual Investment

Production equipment

$120,000

Working capital

17,500

Total

$137,500

Actual Revenues

Years 1–4

$110,000

Years 5–8

$200,000

Years 9–10

$105,000

Actual Fixed Cash Costs

Years 1–4

$15,000

Years 5–8

$17,500

Years 9–10

$25,000

Actual contribution margin ratio

35%

Actual salvage value

$5,000

Actual cost of capital

12%

a. Determine the projected NPV on the product line investment.

b. Determine the NPV of the project based on the post investment audit.

c. Identify the factors that are most responsible for the differences between the projected NPV and the post investment audit NPV.