Poor payment behaviour

Companies in Western Europe are continuing to contend with late payments, bad debt losses and increased trade credit risks. According to data from the West European companies questioned within the framework of the Atradius Payment Practices Barometer (2 886 companies in 14 countries), 30 per cent of the claims against business customers were settled late, 20 per cent were overdue by more than two months, and three per cent were never discharged.The biggest problems with accounts receivable are found in Greece with 41.1 per cent, followed by Italy with 39.5 per cent and Ireland with 38.2 per cent. Of these 18.7 per cent were overdue by more than three months in Greece, 11.7 per cent in Italy and 6.5 per cent in Ireland.66.8 per cent of the companies named cash flow problems as the cause of late payments from domestic partners and 46.2 per cent from foreign business partners.Atradius is a globally active credit underwriter with a total turnover in excess of € 1.5 bn.