Indianapolis – The
average net profit margin of electronic systems contractors who are
members
dropped to 3.5 percent in 2009 from 2007’s 6.8 percent despite rising gross
margins, CEDIA found in its latest
.
CEDIA also
found that the average project size declined only slightly from 2007 levels to
$32,000 and that overall employment fell by less than 5 percent, although average
staffing levels for field technicians declined by 24 percent.
In 2009,
the average revenues of the surveyed contractors were $1,107,000, and the
contractors’ two largest gross-income generators continued to be distributed-A/V
systems and home theater/media room installations. The percentage contribution
of each segment, however, declined slightly from 2007. (See chart.) In 2009,
distributed-A/V systems accounted for an average 24 percent of installer
revenues, down from 2007’s 26 percent. Likewise, home theater/media room
installs accounted for 24 percent of revenue in 2009, down from 27 percent in
2007. On the other hand, revenues from system integration rose as a percent of
revenues to 13 percent from 12 percent.
For its
2009 calendar-year survey, taken in 2010, CEDIA also began to break out several
product segments for the first time rather than fold them into the “other”
category. As a result, CEDIA found that service and recurring revenue accounted
for an average 5 percent of installer revenue in 2009, with IT services
accounting for 2 percent and central vacuum accounting for 1 percent.
The survey also
details other business benchmarks, best practices and trend analysis based on
company information provided in such categories as strategic and business
planning, financial performance and management, operations, and staffing and
compensation.
