Asia Pacific: Late Payments from B2B Customers Cause Suppliers to Protect Cash Flow

PR70566

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

9 in 10 suppliers surveyed in Asia Pacific experienced late payment of invoices

from their B2B customers over the past year. To protect their businesses from

late payments, 33.3% of the suppliers surveyed reported having taken specific

measures to correct cash flow. Despite this, concern over an increase in DSO

appears to have grown significantly among suppliers surveyed in the region.  

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150513/743985 )

Despite the ongoing deceleration and rebalancing of the Chinese economy, GDP in

Asia is forecast to grow 5.8% this year. Strong growth is not being experienced

universally throughout the region with countries like Indonesia and Singapore

showing some vulnerability to regional economic developments. India, however,

appears to have taken over the role of global growth leader.

Most of the suppliers interviewed for the October 2017 edition of the Atradius

Payment Practices Barometer for Asia Pacific reported that they had to protect

their business by taking specific measures to correct cash flow. 9 in 10

suppliers surveyed in the region reported having experienced late payment of

invoices from their B2B customers. This translates into an average of 45.4% of

the total value of B2B invoices being unpaid at due date. Late payment from

domestic B2B customers occurred most often due to insufficient availability of

funds (as reported by 43.8% of respondents in the region). Foreign B2B

customers, instead, delayed invoice payment most often due to the complexity of

the payment procedure. On average, survey respondents reported that they wrote

off 2.1% of B2B receivables as uncollectable. This was mainly because the

customer went bankrupt or out of business (47.4% of respondents), the debt was

too old (36.2%) and the inability to locate the customer (35.4%).

Andreas Tesch, Chief Market Officer of Atradius commented "In 2018, global GDP

growth is expected to expand 3.0%. Despite this positive outlook for the global

economy, it is essential to highlight that rising protectionism, monetary

tightening, and the ongoing slowdown and rebalancing of China's economy may

increase the uncertainty that businesses face. This could further cloud the

global insolvency outlook, weakening business confidence, investment and

consumer spending. With this in mind, the main focus of any business should be

on protection of cash flow."

Eric den Boogert, Director of Atradius Asia commented "Despite the challenging

insolvency outlook for Asia, Atradius is actively working with its clients to

address any cashflow concerns and together with our partner Atradius

Collections we feel confident to provide a holistic solution even in an event

of payment default."

The Atradius Payment Practices Barometer for Asia Pacific gives insights into

the key factors for customer payment delay, the challenges to business

profitability, and the respondents' opinion on payment practice trends by

industry in the next 12 months.  

The complete report highlighting the survey findings of the 2017 Atradius

Payment Practices Barometer for Asia Pacific can be found in the Reports &

advice section of the http://www.atradius.com website.

About Atradius

Atradius provides trade credit insurance, surety and collections services

worldwide through a strategic presence in more than 50 countries. Atradius has

access to credit information on over 240 million companies worldwide. Its

credit insurance, bonding and collections products help protect companies

throughout the world from payment risks associated with selling products and

services on trade credit. Atradius forms part of Grupo Catalana Occidente

(GCO.MC), one of the leading insurers in credit insurance both in Spain and the

rest of the world. http://www.atradius.com

https://twitter.com/atradius

http://www.youtube.com/user/atradiusgroup

https://www.linkedin.com/company/atradius

SOURCE: Atradius Credito y Caucion S.A. de Seguros y Reaseguros