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In corporate finance,as part of fundamental analysis, economic value added (EVA) is an estimate of a firm's economic profit, or the value created in excess of the required return of the company's shareholders. EVA is the net profit less the capital charge () for raising the firm's capital. The idea is that value is created when the return on the firm's economic capital employed exceeds the cost of that capital. This amount can be determined by making adjustments to GAAP accounting. There are potentially over 160 adjustments but in practice only several key ones are made, depending on the company and its industry. EVA is a service mark of Stern Value Management. [1] Corporate finance is an area of finance that deals with sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value. Although it is in principle different from managerial finance which studies the financial management of all firms, rather than corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the financial problems of all kinds of firms. A shareholder is an individual or institution, including a corporation, that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders may be referred to as members of a corporation. Legally, a person is not a shareholder in a corporation until their name and other details are entered in the corporation‘s register of shareholders or members. A beneficial shareholder is the person that has the economic benefit of ownership of the shares, while a nominee shareholder is the person who is on the corporation’s register as the owner while being in fact acting for the benefit and at the direction of the beneficiary, whether disclosed or not. A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in the United States and several other countries to identify a service rather than a product. ## Contents ## Calculation EVA is net operating profit after taxes (or NOPAT) less a capital charge, the latter being the product of the cost of capital and the economic capital. The basic formula is: In corporate finance, net operating profit after tax (NOPAT) is a company's after-tax operating profit for all investors, including shareholders and debt holders. NOPAT is used by analysts and investors as a precise and accurate measurement of profitability to compare a company's financial results across its history and against competitors. When calculating NOPAT, one removes Interest Expense and the effects of other non-operating activities from Net Income to arrive at a value that approximates the value of a firm's annual earnings. NOPAT is precisely calculated as: {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\text{EVA}}&=({\text{ROIC}}-{\text{WACC}})\cdot ({\text{total assets}}-{\text{current liability}})\\[8pt]&={\text{NOPAT}}-{\text{WACC}}\cdot ({\text{total assets}}-{\text{current liability}})\end{aligned}}} where: • ${\displaystyle {\text{ROIC}}={\frac {\text{NOPAT}}{{\text{total assets}}-{\text{current liability}}}}}$, is the return on invested capital; • ${\displaystyle ({\text{WACC}})\,}$ is the weighted average cost of capital (WACC); • ${\displaystyle ({\text{total assets}}-{\text{current liability}})\,}$ is the economic capital employed (total assets − current liability); • NOPAT is the net operating profit after tax, with adjustments and translations, generally for the amortization of goodwill, the capitalization of brand advertising and other non-cash items. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. The WACC is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. Importantly, it is dictated by the external market and not by management. The WACC represents the minimum return that a company must earn on an existing asset base to satisfy its creditors, owners, and other providers of capital, or they will invest elsewhere. EVA calculation: EVA = net operating profit after taxes – a capital charge [the residual income method] therefore EVA = NOPAT – (c × capital), or alternatively EVA = (r × capital) – (c × capital) so that EVA = (rc) × capital [the spread method, or excess return method] where r = rate of return, and c = cost of capital, or the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). NOPAT is profits derived from a company’s operations after cash taxes but before financing costs and non-cash bookkeeping entries. It is the total pool of profits available to provide a cash return to those who provide capital to the firm. Capital is the amount of cash invested in the business, net of depreciation. It can be calculated as the sum of interest-bearing debt and equity or as the sum of net assets less non-interest-bearing current liabilities (NIBCLs). The capital charge is the cash flow required to compensate investors for the riskiness of the business given the amount of economic capital invested. The cost of capital is the minimum rate of return on capital required to compensate investors (debt and equity) for bearing risk, their opportunity cost. Another perspective on EVA can be gained by looking at a firm’s return on net assets (RONA). RONA is a ratio that is calculated by dividing a firm’s NOPAT by the amount of capital it employs (RONA = NOPAT/Capital) after making the necessary adjustments of the data reported by a conventional financial accounting system. EVA = (RONA – required minimum return) × net investments If RONA is above the threshold rate, EVA is positive. ## Comparison with other approaches Other approaches along similar lines include residual income valuation (RI) and residual cash flow. Although EVA is similar to residual income, under some definitions there may be minor technical differences between EVA and RI (for example, adjustments that might be made to NOPAT before it is suitable for the formula below). Residual cash flow is another, much older term for economic profit. In all three cases, money cost of capital refers to the amount of money rather than the proportional cost (% cost of capital); at the same time, the adjustments to NOPAT are unique to EVA. Residual income valuation is an approach to equity valuation that formally accounts for the cost of equity capital. Here, "residual" means in excess of any opportunity costs measured relative to the book value of shareholders' equity; residual income (RI) is then the income generated by a firm after accounting for the true cost of capital. The approach is largely analogous to the EVA/MVA based approach, with similar logic and advantages. Residual Income valuation has its origins in Edwards & Bell (1961), Peasnell (1982), and Ohlson (1995). Although in concept, these approaches are in a sense nothing more than the traditional, commonsense idea of "profit", the utility of having a more precise term such as EVA is that it makes a clear separation from dubious accounting adjustments that have enabled businesses such as Enron to report profits while actually approaching insolvency. Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1985 as a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. Before its bankruptcy on December 3, 2001, Enron employed approximately 29,000 staff and was a major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper company, with claimed revenues of nearly101 billion during 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years.

Other measures of shareholder value include:

Added value in financial analysis of shares is to be distinguished from value added. It is used as a measure of shareholder value, calculated using the formula:

Market value added (MVA) is the difference between the current market value of a firm and the capital contributed by investors. If MVA is positive, the firm has added value. If it is negative, the firm has destroyed value. The amount of value added needs to be greater so than the firm's investors could have achieved investing in the market portfolio, adjusted for the leverage of the firm relative to the market.

Total shareholder return (TSR) is a measure of the performance of different companies' stocks and shares over time. It combines share price appreciation and dividends paid to show the total return to the shareholder expressed as an annualized percentage. It is calculated by the growth in capital from purchasing a share in the company assuming that the dividends are reinvested each time they are paid. This growth is expressed as a percentage as the compound annual growth rate.

The firm's market value added, or MVA, is the added value an investment creates for its shareholders over the total capital invested by them. MVA is the discounted sum (present value) of all future expected economic value added:

${\displaystyle {\text{MVA}}=V-K_{0}=\sum _{t=1}^{\infty }{{\text{EVA}}_{t} \over (1+c)^{t}}}$

Note that MVA = PV of EVA.

More enlightening is that since MVA = NPV of free cash flow (FCF) it follows therefore that the

NPV of FCF = PV of EVA;

since after all, EVA is simply the re-arrangement of the FCF formula.

## Process-based costing

In 2012, Mocciaro Li Destri, Picone & Minà proposed a performance and cost measurement system that integrates the EVA criteria with process-based costing (PBC). [2] The EVA-PBC methodology allows us to implement the EVA management logic not only at the firm level, but also at lower levels of the organization. EVA-PBC methodology plays an interesting role in bringing strategy back into financial performance measures.

## Related Research Articles

In finance, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis is a method of valuing a project, company, or asset using the concepts of the time value of money. All future cash flows are estimated and discounted by using cost of capital to give their present values (PVs). The sum of all future cash flows, both incoming and outgoing, is the net present value (NPV), which is taken as the value of the cash flows in question.

In finance, the net present value (NPV) or net present worth (NPW) applies to a series of cash flows occurring at different times. The present value of a cash flow depends on the interval of time between now and the cash flow. It also depends on the discount rate. NPV accounts for the time value of money. It provides a method for evaluating and comparing capital projects or financial products with cash flows spread over time, as in loans, investments, payouts from insurance contracts plus many other applications.

The APV was introduced by the italian mathematician Lorenzo Peccati, Professor at the Bocconi University. The method is to calculate the NPV of the project as if it is all-equity financed. Then the base-case NPV is adjusted for the benefits of financing. Usually, the main benefit is a tax shield resulted from tax deductibility of interest payments. Another benefit can be a subsidized borrowing at sub-market rates. The APV method is especially effective when a leveraged buyout case is considered since the company is loaded with an extreme amount of debt, so the tax shield is substantial.

In financial accounting, a cash flow statement, also known as statement of cash flows, is a financial statement that shows how changes in balance sheet accounts and income affect cash and cash equivalents, and breaks the analysis down to operating, investing, and financing activities. Essentially, the cash flow statement is concerned with the flow of cash in and out of the business. The statement captures both the current operating results and the accompanying changes in the balance sheet. As an analytical tool, the statement of cash flows is useful in determining the short-term viability of a company, particularly its ability to pay bills. International Accounting Standard 7, is the International Accounting Standard that deals with cash flow statements.

In economics and accounting, the cost of capital is the cost of a company's funds, or, from an investor's point of view "the required rate of return on a portfolio company's existing securities". It is used to evaluate new projects of a company. It is the minimum return that investors expect for providing capital to the company, thus setting a benchmark that a new project has to meet.

In corporate finance, free cash flow (FCF) or free cash flow to firm (FCFF) is a way of looking at a business's cash flow to see what is available for distribution among all the securities holders of a corporate entity. This may be useful to parties such as equity holders, debt holders, preferred stock holders, and convertible security holders when they want to see how much cash can be extracted from a company without causing issues to its operations.

Enterprise value (EV), total enterprise value (TEV), or firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a business. It is a sum of claims by all claimants: creditors and shareholders. Enterprise value is one of the fundamental metrics used in business valuation, financial modeling, accounting, portfolio analysis, and risk analysis.

Return on capital (ROC), or return on invested capital (ROIC), is a ratio used in finance, valuation and accounting, as a measure of the profitability and value-creating potential of companies after taking into account the amount of initial capital invested. The ratio is calculated by dividing the after-tax operating income (NOPAT) by the book value of both debt and equity capital less cash/equivalents.

In finance, leverage is any technique involving the use of debt rather than fresh equity in the purchase of an asset, with the expectation that the after-tax profit to equity holders from the transaction will exceed the borrowing cost, frequently by several multiples⁠ ⁠— hence the provenance of the word from the effect of a lever in physics, a simple machine which amplifies the application of a comparatively small input force into a correspondingly greater output force. Normally, the lender will set a limit on how much risk it is prepared to take and will set a limit on how much leverage it will permit, and would require the acquired asset to be provided as collateral security for the loan. For example, for a residential property the finance provider may lend up to, say, 80% of the property's market value, for a commercial property it may be 70%, while on shares it may lend up to, say, 60% or none at all on certain volatile shares.

Net operating profit less adjusted taxes (NOPLAT) refers to after-tax EBIT adjusted for deferred taxes, or NOPAT + net increase in deferred taxes. It represents the profits generated from a company's core operations after subtracting the income taxes related to the core operations and adding back in taxes that the company had overpaid during the accounting period. It excludes income from non-operating assets or financing such as interest and includes only profits generated by invested capital. NOPLAT is the profit available to all equity stake holders including providers of debt, equity, other financing and to shareholders. NOPLAT is distinguished from net income which is the profit available to equity holders only. NOPLAT is often used as an input in creating discounted cash flow valuation models. It is used in preference to Net Income as it removes the effects of capital structure.

Return on capital employed is an accounting ratio used in finance, valuation, and accounting. It is a useful measure for comparing the relative profitability of companies after taking into account the amount of capital used.

Profitable Growth is the combination of profitability and growth, more precisely the combination of Economic Profitability and Growth of Free cash flows. Profitable growth is aimed at seducing the financial community; it emerged in the early 80’s when shareholder value creation became firms’ main objective.

Net operating assets (NOA) are a business's operating assets minus its operating liabilities. NOA is calculated by reformatting the balance sheet so that operating activities are separated from financing activities. This is done so that the operating performance of the business can be isolated and valued independently of the financing performance. Financing activities do not create value unless the company is in the finance industry, therefore reformatting the balance sheet allows investors to value just the operating activities and hence get a more accurate valuation of the company.

A financial ratio or accounting ratio is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements. Often used in accounting, there are many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization. Financial ratios may be used by managers within a firm, by current and potential shareholders (owners) of a firm, and by a firm's creditors. Financial analysts use financial ratios to compare the strengths and weaknesses in various companies. If shares in a company are traded in a financial market, the market price of the shares is used in certain financial ratios.

Cash return on capital invested (CROCI) is an advanced measure of corporate profitability, originally developed by Deutsche Bank's equity research department in 1996 .This measure compares a post-tax, pre-interest cash flow to the gross level of capital invested and is a useful measure of a company’s ability to generate cash returns on its investments.

## References

1. United States Patent and Trademark Office (uspto.gov), Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). Serial number 74404471.
2. Mocciaro Li Destri A., Picone P. M. & Minà A. (2012), "Bringing Strategy Back into Financial Systems of Performance Measurement: Integrating EVA and PBC", Business System Review, Vol 1., Issue 1. pp. 85–102 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2154117.
• G. Bennett Stewart III (2013). Best-Practice EVA. John Wiley & Sons.
• G. Bennett Stewart III (1991). The Quest for Value. HarperCollins.
• Erik Stern. The Value Mindset. Wiley.
• Joel Stern and John Shiely. The EVA Challenge. Wiley.
• Al Ehrbar. EVA, the Real Key to Creating Wealth. Wiley.
• E. Knappek. An hitchhiker guide to having fun times with Eva. Limited Edition.