Suppose a U.S. computer company has a wholly-owned British subsidiary, Albion Computers PLC, which manufactures and sells personal computers in the U.K. market. Albion Computers imports microprocessors from Intel, which sells them for $512 per unit. At the current exchange rate of $1.60 per pound, each Intel microprocessor costs £320. Albion Computers hires British workers and sources all the other inputs locally. Albion faces a 50 percent income tax rate in the U.K.
The exhibit below summarizes projected operations for Albion Computers, assuming that the exchange rate will remain unchanged at $1.60 per pound. The company expects to sell 50,000 units of personal computers per year at a selling price of £1,000 per unit. The unit variable cost is £650, which comprises £320 for the imported input and £330 for the locally sourced inputs. Needless to say, the pound price of the imported input will change as the exchange rate changes, which, in turn, can affect the selling price in the U.K. market. Each year, Albion incurs fixed overhead costs of £4 million for rents, property taxes, and the like, regardless of the output level. As the exhibit shows, the projected operating cash flow is £7,250,000 per year, which is equivalent to $11,600,000 at the current exchange rate of $1.60.
Benchmark
Sales (50,000 units at £1,000/unit)
£50,000,000
Variable costs (50,000 units at £650/unit)
£32,500,000
Fixed overhead costs
£4,000,000
Depreciation allowances
£1,000,000
Net profit before tax
£12,500,000
Income tax (50%)
£6,250,000
Profit after tax
£6,250,000
Add back depreciation
£1,000,000
Operating cash flow in pounds
£7,250,000
Operating cash flow in dollars
$11,600,000