Consider the following five-year project:

year 0= -$200.00
year 1= $40.00
year 2= $55.00
year 3= $55.00
year 4= $50.00
year 5= $40.00
What is the IRR of this project?

1 answer

To find the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for the project, we need to calculate the rate \( r \) that makes the net present value (NPV) of the cash flows equal to zero. The cash flows are given as follows:

  • Year 0: -$200.00
  • Year 1: $40.00
  • Year 2: $55.00
  • Year 3: $55.00
  • Year 4: $50.00
  • Year 5: $40.00

The NPV formula is:

\[ NPV = \sum \frac{C_t}{(1 + r)^t} \]

Where \( C_t \) is the cash flow in year \( t \) and \( r \) is the discount rate (the IRR we are trying to find).

Setting the NPV to zero for our cash flows, we have:

\[ -200 + \frac{40}{(1 + r)^1} + \frac{55}{(1 + r)^2} + \frac{55}{(1 + r)^3} + \frac{50}{(1 + r)^4} + \frac{40}{(1 + r)^5} = 0 \]

We'll need to use numerical methods or financial calculators to find the IRR since it doesn't have a simple algebraic solution. One common approach is to use spreadsheet software or a financial calculator.

Using a financial calculator or Excel to perform the IRR function on the cash flows:

  1. In Excel, you would enter the cash flows in cells, for example,

    • A1: -200
    • A2: 40
    • A3: 55
    • A4: 55
    • A5: 50
    • A6: 40
  2. Then you can use the formula: \[ =IRR(A1:A6) \]

Running this calculation, the IRR for this project is approximately 13.02%.

So the IRR of the project is approximately 13.02%.