Gross profit ratio

Gross profit ratio (GP ratio) is a profitability ratio that shows the relationship between gross profit and total net sales revenue. It is a popular tool to evaluate the operational performance of the business. The ratio is computed by dividing the gross profit figure by net sales.

Gross profit margin is a profitability ratio that calculates the percentage of sales that exceed the cost of goods sold. In other words, it measures how efficiently a company uses its materials and labor to produce and sell products profitably. You can think of it as the amount of money from product sales left over after all of the direct costs associated with manufacturing the product has been paid. These direct costs are typically called cost of goods sold or COGS and usually consist of raw materials and direct labor.

The gross profit ratio is important because it shows management and investors how profitable the core business activities are without taking into consideration the indirect costs. In other words, it shows how efficiently a company can produce and sell its products. This gives investors a key insight into how healthy the company actually is. For instance, a company with a seemingly healthy net income on the bottom line could actually be dying. The gross profit percentage could be negative, and the net income could be coming from other one-time operations. The company could be losing money on every product they produce, but staying a float because of a one-time insurance payout.

Gross profit = Total Sales – Cost of Goods Sold

Gross profit Ratio = Gross Profit / Net Sales

Significance and interpretation:

Gross profit is very important for any business. It should be sufficient to cover all expenses and provide for profit.

There is no norm or standard to interpret gross profit ratio (GP ratio). Generally, a higher ratio is considered better.

The ratio can be used to test the business condition by comparing it with past years’ ratio and with the ratio of other companies in the industry. A consistent improvement  in gross profit ratio over the past years is the indication of continuous improvement. When the ratio is compared with that of others in the industry, the analyst must see whether they use the same accounting systems and practices.