Songbird Estates (LSE:SBD) Gross Margin % : 73.42% (As of Jun. 2014)

Songbird Estates Gross Margin % Chart

Songbird Estates Annual Data
	Trend	Dec04	Dec05	Dec06	Dec07	Dec08	Dec09	Dec10	Dec11	Dec12	Dec13
Gross Margin %		Get a 7-Day Free Trial					70.37	69.44	69.20	71.46	68.28

Songbird Estates Semi-Annual Data
	Dec04	Jun05	Dec05	Jun06	Dec06	Jun07	Dec07	Jun08	Dec08	Jun09	Dec09	Jun10	Dec10	Jun11	Dec11	Jun12	Dec12	Jun13	Dec13	Jun14
Gross Margin %	Get a 7-Day Free Trial															73.66	69.33	67.09	69.38	73.42

Competitive Comparison of Songbird Estates's Gross Margin %

For the Real Estate Services subindustry, Songbird Estates's Gross Margin %, along with its competitors' market caps and Gross Margin % data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

Songbird Estates's Gross Margin % Distribution in the Real Estate Industry

For the Real Estate industry and Real Estate sector, Songbird Estates's Gross Margin % distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Songbird Estates's Gross Margin % falls into.

Songbird Estates Gross Margin % Calculation

Gross Margin is the percentage of Gross Profit out of sales or Revenue.

Songbird Estates's Gross Margin for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2013 is calculated as

Songbird Estates's Gross Margin for the quarter that ended in Jun. 2014 is calculated as

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

A positive Gross Profit is only the first step for a company to make a net profit. The gross profit needs to be big enough to also cover related labor, equipment, rental, marketing/advertising, research and development and a lot of other costs in selling the products.

Songbird Estates  (LSE:SBD) Gross Margin % Explanation

Warren Buffett believes that firms with excellent long term economics tend to have consistently higher margins.

Durable competitive advantage creates a high Gross Margin % because of the freedom to price in excess of cost. Companies can be categorized by their Gross Margin %

1. Greater than 40% = Durable competitive advantage
2. Less than 40% = Competition eroding margins
3. Less than 20% = no sustainable competitive advantage
Consistency of Gross Margin is key

Songbird Estates had a gross margin of 73.42% for the quarter that ended in Jun. 2014 => Durable competitive advantage

Be Aware

If a company loses its competitive advantages, usually its gross margin declines well before its sales declines. Watching Gross Margin % and Operating Margin % closely helps avoid value trap situations.

Songbird Estates Gross Margin % Related Terms

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Songbird Estates (LSE:SBD) Business Description