US commercial printing profits rebounded from their tough fourth quarter of
2012, where the industry showed a loss of -$400 million. Profits for the
first quarter of 2013 were +$850 million. Excluding the losses in Q4-2011 and
Q4-2012, Q1 profits were the lowest positive quarter since Q1-2010. These data
have been inflation-adjusted.
We prefer to look at inflation-adjusted shipments as a 4-quarter moving
total since profits can fluctuate significantly. The chart below shows that
profits have had trouble getting above the lows of 2005. The black line indicates the lows of 2005.
