You manage the international business for a manufacturing company. You are responsible for the overall profitability of your business unit. Your company ships your products to Malaysia. The retail stores that buy your products there pay you in their local currency, the Malaysian ringgit (MYR). All sales for the first quarter are paid on April 1st and use the exchange rate at the close of business on April 1st or the first business day after April 1st if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. The company has sales contracts with different vendors that determine the number of units sold well in advance. The company is contractually obligated to sell 4,000 units for exactly 1.25 million MYR for the first quarter. The break-even point for each unit is $90 in U.S. dollars. Use the following foreign exchange rates:

On January 1, the daily spot rate is 3.13 MYR, and the forward rate is 0.317 U.S. dollars/MYR for April 1st of the same year.
On April 1, the daily spot rate is 3.52 MYR.
Scenario 1: The company uses the spot rate on April 1st to convert its sales revenue in MYR to U.S. dollars.

Scenario 2: On January 1st, the company uses that day’s forward rate today to lock in a foreign exchange rate for its expected 1.25 million MYR in sales. This means the company agreed to exchange 1.25 million MYR using the forward rate on January 1st when April 1 arrives.

Scenario 3: Another option for the company is to spend the foreign currency and avoid any currency exchange. Because it is a manufacturing company, raw materials are always needed.

1 answer

To evaluate the potential profitability of the sales in Malaysia under the three scenarios presented, let's break down each scenario step-by-step, considering both the exchange rates and related costs.

Scenario 1: Using the Spot Rate on April 1st

Revenue Calculation

  • Total Sales Revenue: 1,250,000 MYR
  • Spot Rate on April 1: 3.52 MYR/USD
  • Revenue in USD = Total Sales Revenue / Spot Rate = \( \frac{1,250,000 \text{ MYR}}{3.52 \text{ MYR/USD}} \approx 355,682 \text{ USD} \)

Cost Calculation

  • Units Sold: 4,000 units
  • Break-even Point per Unit: $90
  • Total Cost = 4,000 units × $90/unit = $360,000

Profit Calculation

  • Profit = Revenue - Total Cost = \( 355,682 \text{ USD} - 360,000 \text{ USD} = -4,318 \text{ USD} \) (Loss)

Scenario 2: Using the Forward Rate on January 1st

Revenue Calculation

  • Forward Rate on January 1: 0.317 USD/MYR
  • Revenue in USD = Total Sales Revenue × Forward Rate = \( 1,250,000 \text{ MYR} \times 0.317 \text{ USD/MYR} \approx 396,250 \text{ USD} \)

Cost Calculation (same as Scenario 1)

  • Total Cost: $360,000

Profit Calculation

  • Profit = Revenue - Total Cost = \( 396,250 \text{ USD} - 360,000 \text{ USD} = 36,250 \text{ USD} \) (Profit)

Scenario 3: Spending the Foreign Currency

In this scenario, the company converts the sales revenue directly to raw materials or other necessary expenses without exchanging it to USD.

Revenue Calculation

  • Total Sales Revenue: 1,250,000 MYR
  • The company can spend this 1,250,000 MYR directly on raw materials or other expenses. Assuming the company buys raw materials costing equivalent MYR and avoids costs of conversion, the effective revenue in the company's local operations stays the same in MYR.

Cost Calculation

Assuming the company can reinvest that MYR directly rather than converting it:

  • Break-even remains: $360,000 total in costs, but now it's in MYR.

However, without converting, we cannot calculate profitability in USD, but it can assume everything cost-wise could be calculated back to MYR to evaluate if the MYR matches the costs directly as they are incurred.

Summary of the Scenarios

  1. Scenario 1: Using the spot rate results in a loss of approximately $4,318.
  2. Scenario 2: Locking in the forward rate yields a profit of approximately $36,250.
  3. Scenario 3: Spending the MYR directly avoids currency exchange losses, maintaining the MYR revenue potential, but profitability in USD can't be directly determined without further details on costs in MYR.

Conclusion

Each option has its pros and cons, but based on these figures:

  • Scenario 2 presents the most favorable outcome with a significant profit due to the advantageous forward rate locked in on January 1.
  • Scenario 1 leads to a slight loss due to unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations.
  • Scenario 3 may provide operational benefit if the MYR can be effectively utilized for necessary purchases without needing USD conversion, but profitability needs careful monitoring against local costs.