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IRR to select best of A, B, C (15 years)

Short answer

Compute IRR as annual revenue divided by initial investment because salvage equals investment. Project C has highest own IRR (15%), but incremental IRR of A over C is 10.29% exceeding 10% MARR, so choose Project A.

Select the best project using IRR method. Useful life of all projects is 15 years. MARR = 10%.

ParticularsProject AProject BProject C
Initial investment7500,0005500,0004000,000
Annual revenue960,000720,000600,000
Salvage value7500,0005500,0004000,000

Each project returns its full investment as salvage at year 15, so the cash flow is: -I at year 0, revenue every year, +I at year 15. For such a flow the IRR equals Revenue / I exactly (the investment is never consumed). MARR = 10%.

Step 1: IRR of each project

ProjectInvestmentRevenue/yrIRR = Rev/IResult
A7,500,000960,00012.80%accept
B5,500,000720,00013.09%accept
C4,000,000600,00015.00%accept

All exceed MARR, so incremental analysis is needed. Order by investment: C < B < A.

Step 2: incremental IRR

Salvage of increments equals the extra investment, so incremental IRR = extra revenue / extra investment.

IncrementExtra investmentExtra revenueIncremental IRRDecision
C → B1,500,000120,0008.00%< 10%, keep C
C → A3,500,000360,00010.29%> 10%, A better than C

(B → A: extra investment 2,000,000, extra revenue 240,000, IRR 12.00% > 10%, A better than B.)

The step C → B fails, but A must still be compared with the current best (C), and A beats it. A also beats B.

Answer: Select Project A. Its extra investment over C earns 10.29%, slightly above MARR 10%. (C has the highest own IRR, but the highest IRR is not the selection rule.)

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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