Problems with the
Internal Rate of Return
The first disadvantage of the IRR method is that IRR, as an investment decision tool, should not be used to rate mutually exclusive projects but only to decide whether a single project is worth investing in.
In cases where one project has a higher initial investment than a second mutually exclusive project, the first project may have a lower IRR (expected return), but a higher NPV (increase in shareholders ‘ wealth) and should thus be accepted over the second project (assuming no capital constraints).
In addition, IRR assumes reinvestment of interim cash flows in projects with equal rates of return (the reinvestment can be the same project or a different project). Therefore, IRR overstates the annual equivalent rate of return for a project whose interim cash flows are reinvested at a rate lower than the calculated IRR. This presents a problem, especially for high IRR projects, since there is frequently not another project available in the interim that can earn the same rate of return as the first project. When the calculated IRR is higher than the true reinvestment rate for interim cash flows, the measure will overestimate–sometimes very significantly–the annual equivalent return from the project. The formula assumes that the company has additional projects, with equally attractive prospects, in which to invest the interim cash flows.
Moreover, since IRR does not consider cost of capital, it should not be used to compare projects of different duration. Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) does consider cost of capital and provides a better indication of a project’s efficiency in contributing to the firm’s discounted cash flow.
Modified IRR => MIRR
The MIRR is a financial measure of an investment’s attractiveness; it is used to rank alternative investments of equal size.
The modified internal rate of return (MIRR) is a financial measure of an investment ‘s attractiveness. It is used in capital budgeting to rank alternative investments of equal size. As the name implies, MIRR is a modification of the internal rate of return (IRR) and as such aims to resolve some problems with the IRR.
While there are several problems with the IRR, MIRR resolves two of them. Firstly, IRR assumes that interim positive cash flows are reinvested at the same rate of return as that of the project that generated them. This is usually an unrealistic scenario and a more likely situation is that the funds will be reinvested at a rate closer to the firm’s cost of capital. The IRR therefore often gives an unduly optimistic picture of the projects under study. Generally, for comparing projects more fairly, the weighted average cost of capital should be used for reinvesting the interim cash flows. Secondly, more than one IRR can be found for projects with alternating positive and negative cash flows, which leads to confusion and ambiguity. MIRR finds only one value.
