Vending profits
up 50 percent
Average net profits of vending and
foodservice management firms in -
creased fifty percent last year com -
pared with 1976, according to the
annual Operating Ratio Report com -
piled from data submitted by member
firms of the National Automatic
Merchandising Association (NAMA) .
Net profits before income taxes
averaged 5 .7 percent of gross sales in
1977 , compared with 3 .8 percent in
1976 , said G . Richard Schreiber,
N.A.M.A . president.
"All segments of the vending
industry are in a healthy uptrend and
1977 shipments of vending machine
manufacturers also achieved a new
record in dollar volume , reaching
$289,596 ,000 ," Schreiber said .
Schreiber said preliminary reports
so far in 1978 continue to reflect this
upward trend .
The 184 companies which fur-
nished data for the 1977 N.A.M .A.
Operating Ratio Report represent a
sales volume of $1,459,309,000
which is 14 percent of the estimated
1977 industry sales volume of
$10 ,686 ,000 ,000.
Net profits of the smallest com-
panies (with sales of less than
$250 ,000 annually) tended to ex-
ceed the overall average and reached
6 .2 percent , as did those with the
highest sales ($10 million or more) ,
which averaged 6 .0 percent net
before income taxes .
Schreiber said the improved profit
performance can be attributed to the
companies' ability to manage costs
and to increases in the retail prices of
vended products .
The N.A.M .A . Report data show
that th ratio of op-erating expenses
to gross sales, including payroll costs,
had remained steady while the
average cost of products sold , as a
percentage of gross sales, was down
from 48 .4 percent to 46 .9 percent.
"We were obViously able to offset
higher product costs by passing them
through to retail customers ," Schrei-
ber said . "This is also reflected in the
average dollar sales per vending
machine which increased for nearly
all product categories last year, even
though unit volume of some prod-
ucts may have remained static ."
The data were collected and
compiled by Price Waterhouse & Co .
Schreiber said that summaries of
the report are available from
N.A.M.A . headquarters at 7 South
Dearborn Street , Chicago , lllinois
60603 . The full report is available
only to members of the association .
12
rom
list. which Is utilized at least four
.. a YtOf for major direct mail
;D«~$)rlI8 .. Is also a valuable source
Of data concerning the game center
CALENDAR
September 21-23
Amusement and Music Operators of
Virginia , annual convention , John
Marshall Hotel , Richmond , Virginia
October 5-7
West Virginia Music and Vending
Association , annual convention ,
Heart O'Town Motor Hotel , Charles-
ton , West Virginia
November 6-7
IEEE Chicago fall conference on
Consumer , Electronics , Ramada
O'Hare Inn , Rosemont , Illinois
November 10-12
Amusement and Music Operators
Association , annual convention and
trade show, Conrad Hilton Hotel ,
Chicago , lllinois
January 14-15, 1979
Music Operators of Minnesota , an -
nual convention , Holiday Inn , Min-
neapolis , Minnesota
February 2-4, 1979
South Carolina Coin Operators
Association , annual convention ,
Carolina Inn , Columbia , South
Carolina
May 11-12,1979
Ohio Music and Amusement Asso-
ciation , annual convention and trade
show , Columbus Hilton Inn , Colum-
bus , Ohio
PLAY METER , September, 1978