Five years after what economists say was the official end of the Great Recession, LMT’s 2014 Fee Survey respondents offer a mixed picture of their sales and profitability. On one hand, laboratory sales seem to be slowly improving: in 2012, only 18% of laboratories reported sales over half a million; now 27% report sales over that amount, which is the same percentage of labs making over half a million in our 2008 survey.
Profits, though, seem to be lagging behind. While a quarter of respondents say profitability has increased over the past two years and another third say it has stayed the same, the largest segment of respondents—43%—say it has decreased. This group reports an average decline of 18% (see Profitability: 2014 vs. 2012).
A prime reason: the vast majority of lab owners say they haven’t raised their fees as frequently as they have in the past...
David H. Khalili
