SG&A Spending Benchmarks Reports now available for consumer sectors

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. - Sept. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- Schonfeld & Associates, a publisher of business information products for over 30 years, has just introduced SG&A BENCHMARKS, a new series of PDF reports, for use as a convenient source of information for professional managers seeking benchmark information on Selling, General & Administrative spending by major public corporations within specific industry sectors. Metrics for major public companies can provide important insight for other firms within the sector. SG&A expenses are all the direct and indirect selling expenses and all general and administrative expenses. SG&A expenses are also called Operating Expenses. In accounting terms, the Net Sales of a firm are reduced by the Cost of Goods Sold, which are the direct costs of materials and production, to yield Gross Income. Gross Income is reduced by SG&A Expenses to yield Operating Income. Frequently, SG&A to Sales ratios are used to judge efficiency of management spending.

Benchmarks for SG&A spending are hard to find. Averages may be available but are generally too broad to be useful. Each title within the SG&A BENCHMARKS series is produced for a specific industry sector. Individual companies are listed with their 2013 SG&A to Sales percentage and growth rates in sales and spending for 2013. As an added aid to setting and evaluating budgets, estimates are given for 2014 SG&A to Sales percentage and expected growth in sales and spending. The sector summary chart provides side by side comparison of 10%ile, median and 90%ile values for each industry within the sector. To allow for easy identification of relative performance within each industry and to account for SG&A spending practices varying with size and location, individual companies are grouped by size based on sales and information on total 2013 sales and headquarters city is listed.

Since different industries vary significantly in their practices of classification of expenses considered to be reported within SG&A expense, SG&A BENCHMARKS is produced for individual industry sectors. SG&A BENCHMARKS - CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SECTOR, the first sector report available from Schonfeld & Associates, provides SG&A spending information for 750 publicly traded companies in 12 industries. Of these companies, 112 are non-U.S. headquartered. The 45 page PDF report is available for $149. The other sector report now available is SG&A BENCHMARKS - CONSUMER STAPLES SECTOR, providing SG&A spending information for 250 publicly traded companies in 6 industries. Of these companies, 60 are non-U.S. headquartered. It is a 21 page PDF report priced at $149.

Within each report, the industry sector summary displays median SG&A to Sales ratio by industry as well as 10 and 90 percentile values to illustrate the range of values reported by firms within each industry. The tabulations for each individual industry present both 2013 and 2014 SG&A as a percentage of sales and the annual percentage growth rate in SG&A spending as well as in sales for each company within the industry. Comparing the growth rate of SG&A expenses and sales gives a snapshot of where the profitability of the firm may be heading. The firms are presented in three groups as defined by sales of less than $100 million, sales between $100 million and $1 billion, and sales of more than $1 billion.

Two sets of industry tabulations are presented. Alphabetical order by company name aids in locating a firm. Order by SG&A to Sales ratio showcases the ‘leaner and meaner’ firms in each industry.

These reports will benefit anyone seeking competitive benchmark intelligence including: corporate staff, financial analysts, investment professionals, lenders, M&A advisors, appraisers and industry consultants.

For information on SG&A Expense as a Percentage of Sales by Industry Sector, visit http://saibooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=61 Links are on that page to the individual sector reports currently available with a table of contents and sample page from each report.