Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI)

Financial Statement Analysis

What is Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI)?

CFROI (or Cash Flow Return on Investment) is the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the company as it is compared with the hurdle rate to understand whether the product/investment is doing well.

It was developed by HOLT Value Associates. This measure allows the investors to go into the internal structure of the company to find out how cash is created in the organization.
It helps you understand how a company finances its operations and how financial providers are being paid. Moreover, Cash Flow Return on Investment also takes inflation into account.
CFROI is a valuation model that assumes that stock market decides the prices based on the cash flow of the company. And it doesn’t take into account the performance or earnings of the company.

[Note: If you are wondering what hurdle rate is, here’s the brief info: hurdle rate is the minimum rate the company expects to earn when the company invests into a project. Usually, investors calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and use it as a hurdle rate.]

Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI) formula

Below is the CFROI formula –

CFROI Formula = Operating Cash Flow (OCF) / Capital Employed

To be able to calculate CFROI, we need to understand both OCF and CE. Let’s understand them one by one.

Operating Cash Flow (OCF)

In simple terms, operating cash flow is the amount of cash that comes in after paying operating expenses for the company. So we will first look at the net income. And do the following adjustments (according to the Indirect Method of Cash Flow Analysis) –

Operating Cash Flow (OCF) = Net Income + Non-Cash Expenses + Changes in Working Capital.

Capital Employed (CE)

Now let’s look at the Capital Employed (CE) of the company. Companies use two usual measures to calculate capital employed. Here are two ways to find out capital employed. No matter which we use, we need to remain consistent in your approach.

Capital Employed = Fixed Assets + Working Capital
Capital Employed = Total Assets – Current Liabilities

The second method is easier and in the example section, we will use the second method to ascertain capital employed.

Cash Flow Return on Investment – Starbucks Example

As an example, let us calculate CFROI of Starbucks

From the above chart, we have the following –

Operating Cash Flow (2018) = $11.94 billion
Capital Employed (2018) = $18.47 billion
CFROI Formula = Operating Cash Flow / Capital Employed = $11.94 / $18.47 = 64.6%

How to Interpret CFROI?

Cash Flow Return on Investment can’t be interpreted without comparing it to hurdle rate. Usually, the hurdle rate is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC).

Once the CFROI is calculated, it is compared with WACC and then the Net CFROI is calculated.

Here’s how you can calculate Net CFROI –

Net CFROI = Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI) – Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)

If the Net CFROI is positive (i.e. Net CFROI > WACC), then it increased the value of shareholders and
if Net CFROI is negative (i.e. Net CFROI < WACC), then it decreased the value of shareholders.

CFROI and Net CFROI Example

Ms. Shweta has been thinking of investing in Q Company. But before investing, she wants to know whether Q Company would be able to appreciate her value as a shareholder. So she decided to find out Cash Flow Return on Investment and Net CFROI. She has the following information at her disposal.

Q Company at the end of 2016

Details	In US $
Net Income	600,000
Depreciation & amortization	56,000
Deferred Taxes	6,500
Increase in Accounts Receivables	4,000
Decrease in Inventories	6,000
Decrease in Account Payables	9,000
Increase in Accrued Interest Payable	3,200
Profit on Sale of Property	12,000
Total Assets	32,00,000
Current Liabilities	400,000
Equity	20,00,000
Debt	800,000
Cost of Equity	4%
Cost of Debt	6%
Corporate Tax Rate	30%

We have the above information available. First, we will calculate the operating cash flow (OCF).

Q Company

Cash Flow Statement for the year 2016

Details	In US $
Net Income	600,000
(+) Non-cash expenses
Depreciation & amortization	56,000
Deferred Taxes	6,500
(+) Changes in Working Capital
Increase in Accounts Receivables	(4,000)
Decrease in Inventories	6,000
Decrease in Account Payables	(9,000)
Increase in Accrued Interest Payable	3,200
Profit on Sale of Property	(12,000)
Cash flow from Operating Activities	6,46,700

We have one component of the CFROI. We need to calculate another one, i.e. capital employed.

Details	In US $
Total Assets (A)	32,00,000
Current Liabilities (B)	400,000
Capital Employed (A – B)	28,00,000

So, here’s the Cash Flow Return on Investment of Q Company –

Cash Flow Return on Investment Formula = Operating Cash Flow (OCF) / Capital Employed

Details	In US $
Cash flow from Operating Activities (A)	6,46,700
Capital Employed	28,00,000
Cash Flow Return on Investment (A / B)	23.10%

To know the hurdle rate and to compare Cash Flow Return on Investment with it, we need to first compute WACC and then find out Net .

Here’s how we will calculate WACC.

WACC = E/V * Re + D/V * Rd * (1 – TC)

Details	In US $
Equity (E)	20,00,000
Debt (D)	800,000
Equity + Debt (V)	28,00,000
E / V	0.71
Cost of Equity	4%
D / V	0.29
Cost of Debt	6%
Corporate Tax Rate	30%

Putting the above value in the equation, we get –

WACC = 0.71 * 0.04 + 0.29 * 0.06 * (1 – 0.30)
WACC = 0.0284 + 0.01218
WACC = 0.04058 = 4.06%

Then, the Net Cash Flow Return on Investment is –

Details	In US $
Cash Flow Return on Investment (A)	23.10%
WACC (B)	4.06%
Net Cash Flow Return on Investment (A – B)	19.04%

From the above calculation, Shweta is now confident that Q Company will be able to appreciate the investment she would be making and as a result, she would go ahead and invest into the company.

In the final analysis

CFROI is one of the best measures if you want to know an accurate picture of how a company is doing. Other accounting ratios work, but they are based on the flawed idea that “more profit means better resource management and better returns”. But in actual sense, how much cash is coming in and how much is going out will always decide how a company is doing in terms of performance in the market. Every investor should calculate CFROI and Net Cash Flow Return on Investment before investing into any company.

CFROI (Cash Flow Return on Investment)

What is Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI)?