Printing Profits Up. . .Slightly

Profit leaders, printers in the top 25% of profitability, saw profits decrease slightly to 10.1% as compared to 10.3% in 2006. Despite the small decrease, profit as a percentage of sales for profit leaders remained at the same level it was at in the mid to late 1990s.

In 2007 materials accounted for the largest single cost category for the typical U.S. printer, approximately 35.4% of sales. Paper alone consumed more than one-in-five sales dollars last year. Other major costs incurred by printers last year included factory payroll (24.95% of sales), factory expenses (16.77% of sales), administrative expenses (9.57% of sales), and selling expenses (8.77% of sales).