Survey finds percentage of small printers' sales from offset printing down to 30.3% from 32.7% in year-ago period, decrease in digital copying sales to 20.8% from 25.5%, increase in sales from prepress and graphics services to 12.3% from 7.7%

Kendall Sinclair

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey , October 7, 2013 (press release) – Latest study from Mitch Evans Consulting includes quick and small printer summary profit and loss statements, balance sheets, operating ratios, and trend data.

The National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) has released its new 2013/2014 NAQP Financial Benchmarking Study, the 17th edition of this important industry study. The latest edition, produced by Mitch Evans Consulting, Palm Beach, Fla., debuted at the recent PRINT 13 show in Chicago.

“This study is a vital resource for quick and small printing company owners and managers challenged to maintain or improve their financial results, enabling them to benchmark their performance against companies of similar size and against industry leaders,” says Evans, who serves as a Vice President of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), and Managing Director of NAQP.

The new study includes more than 20 unique Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports, plus several pages detailing key ratios broken out by dozens of categories, such as independent vs. franchise status, firms with and without sales reps, amount of brokered work, and sales volume.

The latest study also features a P&L, Balance Sheet, and Operating Ratios comparison of industry leaders vs. laggards, and several new data categories, including color and black & white large format, signage, and marketing services. Some of the new key ratios are new customer acquisition, accounts receivable over 60 days, and debt to total equity. Study participants were offered the opportunity to receive a customized report that provided a side-by-side comparison of their company data and study data.

“Over the years, these studies have also provided a tremendous amount of insight into the trends of sales growth, profitability, changes in the mix of products and services, and key ratios,” says Evans. Among the trends captured in the current study are a continued decrease in offset printing as a percentage of small printers’ sales, from 32.7% of total sales in the previous study to 30.3%; a decrease in digital copying sales, from 25.5% to 20.8%; and an increase in sales from prepress and graphics services, from 7.7% to 12.3%.

Among other findings in the new study:

Franchisees reported higher earnings and owner’s compensation (11.95%) vs. independent shops (8.68%), as well as significantly higher owner discretionary income.
Firms over $2.5 million in sales experienced the best growth in 2012 (9.22%), although firms under $550,000 expect that sales this year will increase the most (10.66%).
Multiple-location firms had a much larger sales volume, almost $4 million, and grew at more than 13% in 2012―outpacing growth of their single-location counterparts.
Members of major trade associations outperformed non-members in owner’s compensation and discretionary income, current and quick ratios, sales per employee, and return on net assets.
Average sales of the participants were just over $1.9 million, a significant increase over past studies, which Evans attributes largely to a much higher NAQP/NAPL member participation.

“We attracted a wide participation base,” says Evans, “with more large shops taking this survey than previous surveys. The wider participation gave us a better picture since traditional quick printers look completely different now, having evolved into more commercial printing while commercial printers have moved into digital printing.”

The 2013/2014 NAQP Financial Benchmarking Study (NQ1025), 68 pp., perfect bound, is available now for $155.00 (NAQP/NAPL members) and $249.00 (non-members), plus shipping and handling. For more information, or to order, go to www.napl.org/store or call (800) 642-6275, Ext. 6324 or Ext. 6345.

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