Metrics
What numbers consultants lead with.
Every slide that foregrounds a metric — 7,750 in total — classified into families by what's being measured. Drill in to see who uses each family, where in the narrative, and the real examples.
Metric families
7,750 metric-led slides1266
Survey & sentiment
What people said — respondents, priorities, sentiment, NPS.
16.3%
1110
Market size & value
Scale of the pool — TAM, GMV, AUM, deal value, investment, funding.
14.3%
709
Cost & savings
What's spent or saved — costs, spend, savings, efficiency, abatement.
9.1%
541
Share & penetration
Piece of the pie — market share, adoption, penetration, uptake.
7.0%
491
Growth rate
Speed of change — CAGR, YoY, growth rate.
6.3%
261
Rates & ratios
Other rates — retention, conversion, representation, distress.
3.4%
324
Employment & headcount
People at work — employees, FTEs, productivity, jobs.
4.2%
226
Indices & scores
Composite indicators — confidence indices, rankings, ratings.
2.9%
218
Margin & return
Economic quality — margins, ROI/ROE/ROIC, TSR, profit.
2.8%
212
Environment & emissions
Green metrics — GHG, emissions, hydrogen, renewables.
2.7%
187
Volume & counts
Raw counts — number of X, transactions, deals.
2.4%
141
Revenue & sales
Top line — revenue, sales, GVA.
1.8%
76
Macro indicators
Economy-wide signals — inflation, unemployment, PMI.
1.0%
23
Valuation
Asset worth — present value, pre-money, exit value.
0.3%
1965
Other
Domain-specific or uncategorized long-tail.
25.4%
Filtered by margin_return
· clear
Where in the narrative
Number shape
| percent | 122 |
| plain | 43 |
| multiplier | 33 |
| money | 20 |
80 examples
showing first 80+2.6x
The luxury industry generated exceptional value since the pandemic (x3+ vs. 2019), with a slowdown in 2024
“+2.6x”
~50%
Measuring value | Value tracking is a major hurdle to AI adoption -- exemplars deploy an end-to-end value steering and capture framework
“Value tracking is a major hurdle to AI adoption -- exemplars deploy an end-to-end value steering and capture framework.”
$12B
Amid rising passenger demand and ongoing margin pressure, AI is emerging as a key lever for efficiency in an increasingly competitive market.
“Cumulative net profits are projected to reach $36.6 billion in 2025, up 16.2% YoY, with European airlines leading the way”
64
An uneasy pause
“The standout trend in Q3 was a marked decline in consumer confidence.”
-31 pts
Hurting at the margin
“Profit margins for exchanges' traditional business”
17
Bigger isn't always more profitable
“Bigger isn't always more profitable”
94%
Financial services' proportion of AI-driven profitability, including subsectors, compared with the cross-sector average
“32 percent of financial services companies are already generating AI returns, 67 percent have not yet reached this stage.”
7.1%
Grocery retail margins in Europe have historically been lower than other industries, averaging 7.1% EBITDA (2009-23)
6.6%
On average, hyper/supermarkets (6.6%) and discounters (6.4%) have EBITDA margins (2023)
“Peer group margins range 6.1% - 8.3%”
9.2%
Performance differs significantly across grocers with average EBITDA margins varying from 4.8% to 9.2% between 2015-23
-1.2pp
Grocers faced gross margin pressure (-1.2pp) combined with real terms sales decline (-4.5%)
“Grocers faced gross margin pressure (-1.2pp) combined with real terms sales decline (-4.5%).”
-0.6pp
EBITDA margin of super/ hypermarkets (-0.6pp) shows negative momentum vs discounters (+0.2pp)
“Skewed by Lidl. Margins range 6.1% - 8.3%”
-0.4pp
Grocers limited EBITDA margins decline (-0.4pp) by raising prices/ negotiating purchase terms and reducing SG&A and other costs
“Despite high inflation, COGS only increased by 1.2pp, meaning that most (95%) of the inflation was passed to consumers”
€4 billion
Examples of grocers' actions to reduce SG&A and other structural cost items to stabilize EBITA margins
5-10pp
Over te next 5 years, macroeconomic and industry dynamics will continue to put pressure on grocers' margins, especially for hyper/supermarkets
-2.7pp
If no counter measures are taken, average EBITDA impact could range -0.2 to -2.7 pp for hyper/supermarkets
“The potential profit impact of each trend individually for a normative hyper/supermarket based on the current P&L structure”
4%
Impact of trends could make super/hypermarkets EBITDA margins thin (~4%) with 1-2% of revenue required for renewal CAPEX
“Continuation of historical cost optimization (1 – 1.5%) will not be sufficient to counter max. trend impact”
5.5-8
Bolder actions are needed to avoid further profitability erosion and to get to sustainable profitability before 2030
“Grocers need to do a step change across a set of levers best fitted to value proposition and success to win. Above calculation does not yet include (one off) in…”
0.5%
Stepping up quality of private label & develop private brands to grow to 15% of volume could add up to 0.5% in EBITDA margin
“Stepping up quality of private label & develop private brands to grow to 15% of volume could add up to 0.5% in EBITDA margin”
0.5 – 1%
Reshaping store networks to close 10% of stores and recouping 50% of sales could add up to 0.5 – 1% EBITDA margin
“Reshaping store networks is a lever for grocery retailers to improve profitability and consumer experience, with retailers increasingly shifting focus from netw…”
0.25 – 0.75%
Driving COGS reduction by 0.3 – 1% through supplier negotiation and buying-alliance activity could add 0.25 – 0.75% EBITDA uplift
“Driving COGS reduction by 0.3 – 1% through supplier negotiation and buying-alliance activity could add 0.25 – 0.75% EBITDA uplift.”
0.5 – 1%
Improve end-to-end productivity through advanced technologies to reduce labor cost with 5 – 10% could give EBITDA uplift of 0.5 – 1%
“This calculation does not take into account the (one off) initial investment, dependent on boldness of investment this can be a large CAPEX investment (g., full…”
~1%
Ocado and Albert Heijn are examples that are using advanced technologies to automate their fulfillment and DCs
“Albert Heijn's warehouse robots could result in ~1% EBIT improvement.”
0.25–0.75pp
Monetizing Retail Media towards 0.75 – 1.5% additional revenue could give an EBITDA uplift of 0.25 – 0.75%
“Monetizing Retail Media (RM) has emerged as driver of profitability with margins reaching up to 70% within 3 years of launching.”
75%
Kroger began its retail media business in 2012 – building scale since 2021
“75% EBIT for media sales”
-1.0pp
1. If 90-100% of food COGS inflation can be passed on to consumers without affecting volumes, the EBITDA impact is -1.0pp to opp
“1.0pp decline in Gross margin, which fully translates to 1.0pp EBITDA margin decline”
-0.3pp
2. If 90-100% of labor cost increase due to labor market tightness can be passed on to consumers, the EBITDA impact is -0.3pp to opp
“90-100% of labor cost increase can be passed on to consumers”
0.2pp
3. GLP-1 drug users spend 6-11% less on groceries resulting in EBITDA margin decline of 0.1 to 0.2pp
“0.2-1.0% drop in volumes depending on the GLP-1 drug adoption rates, translating to 0.2-1.0% decrease in revenues and COGS”
-1pp
4. Market share erosion to discounters will negatively impact the EBITDA margin by -1pp to -0.3pp
“For each 1pp market share loss to discounters, the EBITDA margin of super- & hypermarkets declines by ~0.23pp”
+0.2pp
5. The increasing share or private label positively impacts EBITDA margin by 0.0pp to +0.2pp
“In low case with 31% private label share by 2029, and assuming a 5% better gross margin of private label, the total impact on the EBITDA is 0.0pp”
-0.2pp
6. Online market share is expected to grow from 6% by 1-3pp, resulting in a total EBITDA impact of -0.2pp to 0pp
“EBITDA margin of online grocery is expected to be 3-6pp lower compared to offline by 2029 (currently 5-10pp)”
2.1x
Leading companies extract greater value by focusing their AI investments
“In reality, most companies go broad and dilute efforts across multiple pilots, seeing lower ROI as a result”
4% to 7%
Private markets continue to create value through sustainability initiatives
“On average, EDCI member GPs observe EBITDA increases of 4% to 7% from sustainability-linked initiatives over the lifetime of an investment.”
~16%
Real impact being achieved across sectors
3x
Companies that scale strategic bets are usually delighted with their financial performance as well. For instance, compared to competitors that have not done so, companies that have scaled at least one strategic bet are nearly three times more likely to have their return on investment (ROI) from gen AI surpass their forecasts.
“Companies that scale strategic bets are usually delighted with their financial performance as well.”
2.4x
Lead with value
“When strategic bets are sponsored by a company's CEO and/or board of directors, our research shows that these investments are 2.4x more likely to exceed their p…”
$924 bn
Across the world's 100 largest banks, the retail segment generates less revenue than the commercial segment but is more profitable.
“Although JPMorgan Chase is renowned for its commercial and investment banking, over the past eight quarters its consumer and community banking unit has achieved…”
60%
6. Engage cross-functional teams and learning agendas.
“Over 60% of leading marketers work with their cross-functional peers to design experiments and align with them on testing timelines and success factors.”
-1.5%
While revenues are up for European telcos, margins continue to decline
~40 bps
Every businessperson knows that a small change in price can have an oversized effect on demand, revenue and income.
“In banking, all things being equal, a 1% increase in revenue translates into a ~40 bps improvement in pre-tax ROE. A 1% improvement in cost, however, only impro…”
18%
Global equity markets returned 18% in 2024...
“Returns differed significantly by region”
55%
Total returns varied widely between sectors, from -9% to +55%
62
In most industries weighted average returns exceeded medians significantly, implying that a subset of companies outperformed
18/19%
Margins & cost pressures slowing down profitability, with mixed performance across categories (and players)
“Ongoing pressures forecasted for 2025, yet gross margin upsides and operating deleverage to drive improvement”
~15%
Luxury Good Markets holding strong profitability: amid upcoming challenges, need to focus on supply chain excellence and resilience
“WITH BRANDS CALLED TO KEEP ENSURING AND NURTURING UPSTREAM EXCELLENCE”
>5p.p.
Brands to tackle performance improvement challenges
“TO SECURE PROFITABILITY RETOOL THE BUSINESS MODEL ACHIEVE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE GROWTH”
45/50%
Pressured marketing flywheel, with reducing brand visibility and weakened effectiveness
“Degree of creativity representing primary driver of campaign ROI, 2/3x above its reach”
€10/15B
Decarbonization is a business imperative, and comes with costs, but, also, opportunities
“Net-zero trajectory requires greater share of business from 2nd hand – profitability key priority”
2.1 percentage points
"Platform businesses" combine business and technological capabilities to reimagine customer, supplier and industry peer experiences and pursue new growth opportunities at speed.
“The 152 platform adopters in our analysis generated, on average, 2.1 percentage points higher margins in the 2019 to 2022 period, compared with non-platform com…”
$231 billion
Platform adopters are more profitable—and more resilient—than their peers.
“Platform adopters are more profitable—and more resilient—than their peers.”
~2%
As health plan margins deteriorate, service providers will need more than AI to make the legacy payer market attractive
“Average margin is ~2%”
57%
Leaders see greater AI benefits
“Just as the benefits from AI rise with its usage, so does the return on investment.”
~3%
Scaling an enterprise-wide LLM and generative AI capability
“This AI strategy has, to date, brought in tangible benefits totalling around 3% of its expected net income.”
180
180 large, publicly traded companies could see profit losses beyond 10% by 2030 if they do not manage their nature risks¹
“Firms at risk of losing 10% -40% of profits are concentrated in utilities, agriculture, and chemicals.”
6.3x
In a one-year comparison, Enterprise Values show the highest recovery in Transportation & Logistics
“Transportation & Logistics firms saw a significant increase in EV, while Energy & Materials performed worse compared to 2022.”
22.1x
US firms are priced at a premium compared to CDAX firms, most prominent in Information Technology and Industrials
“A comparison of forward EV/EBITDA trading multiples of US (S&P500) and German (CDAX) firms at the industry level reveals that US trading premia are highest in I…”
23,7x
Prices paid in European M&A transactions imply premia to trading prices in the healthcare and technology industry
“The highest prices were paid in Healthcare and Information Technology, with transaction multiples above the range of trading multiples.”
35%-45%
Value chain – Opportunity to localize Foundry & assembly for complete ecosystem indigenization
“India needs Foundry & OSAT to realize full localization”
20%-40%
Value chain — Opportunity to build midstream and downstream domestically; though upstream remains a constraint
“Financing: Capitalize on rapid growth across all segments & enhanced asset quality with industry stabilization.”
$50 Mn+
Founders should think about building $50 Mn+ EBITDA, 20%+ ROCE, OCF positive businesses at steady state.
“Founders should think about building $50 Mn+ EBITDA, 20%+ ROCE, OCF positive businesses at steady state.”
7.3
Investor expectations for market returns over the next three years are relatively modest and have declined since our last survey
8%
SME POTENTIAL: INCREASING ACCESS TO DEBT FOR SMES MAY BE A VIABLE STRATEGY TO STIMULATE GROWTH, FOSTER INNOVATION, AND HELP ACHIEVE FULL POTENTIAL
“Additional debt could help with increasing access to capital for capital-constrained Dutch SMEs and may unlock further growth.”
10.1x
In a one-year comparison, forward multiples show the highest recovery in Chems & Pharma and Transportation
“Forward EV/EBITDA multiples in the industries Chems & Pharma and Transportation & Logistics showed notable increases compared to the previous year.”
20.4x vs 8.3x
US firms are priced at a premium compared to CDAX firms, most prominent in Information Technology
“A comparison of forward EV/EBITDA trading multiples of US (S&P500) and German (CDAX) firms at the industry level reveals that US trading premia are highest in I…”
16.2x
Over the last year, price tags in European M&A transactions mostly imply discounts to LTM trading pricing levels
“In most industries, prices paid imply a discount to LTM European trading pricing levels. This is particularly evident in the Industrials and Consumer Products s…”
30%
The diversity dividend
“Although diverse founding teams often struggle to secure funding, they have been found to generate more value than homogenous teams.”
13.5 pp
Companies that manage to grow profitably during disruption extend their lead over competitors after disruptive events
“Long-term profitable growth companies have the ability to evolve, succeed and prosper through uncertainty and volatility. They constantly "adapt their ability t…”
US$70M
For Achievers, the willingness to embrace new tools and technologies often pays off.
“We found that 4% of Achievers in North America are already using platforms that allow workers to easily pose questions and share ideas with colleagues across th…”
8.6%
European banks reported record levels of profitability in Dec22 due to higher interest rates and a decline in operating costs.
“European [German] banks reported a market cap-weighted ROE for the last twelve months (LTM) of 9.5% [6.1%] in Dec22, withstanding the challenging economic envir…”
88%
Increasingly optimistic financial prospects for both public and private hospitals in 2023 as they recover from COVID-19 impact; private hospitals are generally more profitable
83%
Public hospitals in Vietnam and private hospitals in Indonesia exhibit exceptional financial performance; most hospitals maintain a favorable financial outlook across the region
“Public hospitals in Vietnam and private hospitals in Indonesia exhibit exceptional financial performance; most hospitals maintain a favorable financial outlook …”
80%
Public hospital financials in 2023 are similar to 2020 and worse than 2021, but hospitals are optimistic about the future post-COVID; private hospital financials remain unchanged since 2020
88%
Increasingly optimistic financial prospects for both public and private hospitals in 2023 as they recover from COVID-19 impact; private hospitals are generally more profitable
83%
Public hospitals in Vietnam and private hospitals in Indonesia exhibit exceptional financial performance; most hospitals maintain a favorable financial outlook across the region
22.0
APAC asset management has experienced higher and relatively stable margins
“APAC revenue margin remains high with a preference for active investment strategies.”
60%
Gen Z Students value four-year degrees more than available alternatives
“Of students surveyed, the majority (60%) saw a four-year degree as having a higher ROI compared with a community college degree.”
10%
Finland’s profitability has historically been higher than the European average
90%
Private hospitals experienced a minor dip during the pandemic which persisted into 2022, but is forecast to rebound significantly
16.1x vs 10.6x
Shareholders/analysts are reassessing the last mile claim
“Market expects Integrators to perform better than Posts, with significantly higher EV/EBIT multiples and price premium”
3.9
Marketers report weak returns from DE&I investments: Employee outcomes lead
“In general, DE&I marketing investments are weak. Payoffs from DE&I marketing investments are rated most highly for Employee Retention (3.9) and Employee Attract…”