Residual income is equal to the difference between total revenues and operating expenses.

Additional value created above the cost of capital

What is Economic Value Added?

Economic Value Added (EVA) or Economic Profit is a measure based on the Residual Income technique that serves as an indicator of the profitability of projects undertaken. Its underlying premise consists of the idea that real profitability occurs when additional wealth is created for shareholders and that projects should create returns above their cost of capital.

Residual income is equal to the difference between total revenues and operating expenses.

EVA adopts almost the same form as residual income and can be expressed as follows:

EVA = NOPAT – (WACC * capital invested)          

Where NOPAT = Net Operating Profits After Tax

WACC = Weighted Average Cost of Capital

Capital invested = Equity + long-term debt at the beginning of the period

and (WACC* capital invested) is also known as finance charge

Calculating Net Operating Profits After Tax (NOPAT)

One key consideration for this item is the adjustment of the cost of interest. The cost of interest is included in the finance charge (WACC*capital) that is deducted from NOPAT in the EVA calculation and can be approached in two ways:

  1. Starting with operating profit, then deducting the adjusted tax charge (because tax charge includes the tax benefit of interest). Therefore, we should multiply the interest by the tax rate and add this to the tax charge; or
  2. Start with profit after tax and adding back the net cost of interest. Therefore, we should multiply the interest charge by (1-tax rate).

Accounting Adjustments

Three main adjustments should be made. Among the most common and important are:

  • Expenditures on R&D, promotion, and employee training should be capitalized.
  • Depreciation charge is added back to profit and instead, a charge for economic depreciation is made. This reflects the true change in the value of assets during the period, unlike accounting depreciation.
  • Accounts such as provisions, allowances for doubtful debts, deferred tax provisions, and allowances for inventory should be added back to capital implied.
  • Non-cash expenses should be added back to profits and to capital employed.
  • Operating leases should be capitalized and added back to capital employed.
  • Tax charge will be based on cash taxes, rather than the accruals-based methods used in financial reporting and will be calculated as follows:

Tax charge per income statement – increase (or + if reduction) in deferred tax provision + tax benefit of interest = Cash taxes

Calculating the Finance Charge

Finance Charge = Capital invested * WACC

and WACC = Ke*E/ (E+D) + Kd (1-t)*D/ (E+D), where Ke = required return on equity and Kd (1-t) = after tax return on debt

Thus, given the adjusted taxes, we can write the economic value-added formula as follows:

EVA = NOPAT – (WACC * capital invested)       

Properties of Economic Value Added

The properties of using economic value added can be compared with other approaches in the following table:

Valuation modelMeasureDiscount FactorComments
Enterprise discounted cash flow Free cash flow WACC Works best for projects, business units, and companies that manage their capital structure to a target level
Discounted economic profit EVA WACC Explicitly highlights when a company creates value
Adjusted present value Free cash flow Unlevered cost of equity Highlights changing capital structure more easily than WACC-based models

Example – Calculating Economic Value Added for a Company

 201420152016
Capital invested (beginning of year) $54,236 $50,323 $55,979
WACC 8.22% 8.28% 8.37%
Finance Charge $4,460 $4,167 $4,682
NOPAT $7,265 $5,356 $4,336
Finance Charge $4,460 $4,169 $4,683
Economic Value Added $2,805 $1,187 -$347

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Residual income is equal to the difference between total revenues and operating expenses.

Alternative Measures of Value

Financial analysts typically rely on various different methods of measuring value. Return on invested capital (ROIC) is a common method that also uses a residual income approach. Ultimately, the truest measure of value is the cash flow that’s generated by a business, which can only be measured by internal rate of return (IRR). IRR is used in financial modeling to capture all aspects of a business and its economic performance.

Video Explanation of Economic Value Added (EVA)

Watch this short video to quickly understand the main concepts covered in this guide, including the definition of Economic Value Added, the formula for EVA, and an example of EVA calculation.

Additional resources

In conclusion, economic value added (EVA) highlights when a company creates value (or destroys value) and is helpful to understand the company’s performance in a given year.  For more resources to help advance your corporate finance career as a Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA), these additional resources will be helpful:

  • Return on Equity
  • Return on Assets
  • Valuation Methods
  • Financial Modeling Guide

What does residual income mean?

Residual income is the income an individual has left after all personal debts and expenses are paid in personal finance. Residual income is the level used to help figure out the creditworthiness of a potential borrower.

What is the difference between total revenue and operating revenue?

Revenue is the total amount of income generated by a company for the sale of its goods or services before any expenses are deducted. Operating income is the sum total of a company's profit after subtracting its regular, recurring costs and expenses.

What is the difference between total revenue and total expenses?

Net Income: difference between total revenue and expenses when total revenue is greater. Net Loss: difference between total revenue and expenses when total expenses are greater.

How do you calculate residual income?

The calculation of residual income is as follows: Residual income = operating income - (minimum required return x operating assets).