ROCE F9 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Hi, I’ve come across the below question from the BPP revision kit, and confused about how the ROCE is calculated. I thought ROCE is calculated as Profit/average investment which should be $1200/($9000/2).

A project has average estimated cash flows of $3,000 per year with an initial investment of $9,000.
Depreciation is straight-line with no residual value and the project has a five-year life span. The
company has a target return on capital employed (ROCE) of 15% and a target payback period of 2.5 years. ROCE is based on initial investment.
Under which investment appraisal method(s), using the company’s targets, will the project
be accepted?
(1) ROCE
(2) Payback basis
A 1 only
B 2 only
C Both 1 and 2
D Neither 1 nor 2
The correct answer is D
The ROCE calculation is as follows
Depreciation per year = $9,000/5 years = $1,800
Profit per year = $3,000 – $1,800 = $1,200
ROCE = Profit/Initial investment = $1,200/$9,000 = 13.33%

Please if you could clarify, that would be great.

Jay