Publications

British business insolvencies are expected to increase by more than 5% in 2019, mainly affecting businesses active in the construction and retail sectors.

With more than 55,000 business failures expected in 2019, the number of insolvencies will still be as high as during the start of the 2008 credit crisis.

After several years of annual decreases, German business insolvencies are expected to increase again in 2019 as the economic expansion slows down.

Businesses in Singapore expect DSO to deteriorate over the coming months. Read the complete overview of corporate payment practices by sector.

Taiwanese businesses are the least inclined in the Asia Pacific to sell on credit. Get your copy of the latest payment practices barometer and find out why.

Businesses in Japan are focused more on strengthening receivables' collection activities than having a more strategic approach to credit management.

Survey respondents in China expect trade credit risk to increase over the coming months. Find out more about their business challenges going forward.

Internal demand & export growth work in favor of Indian B2B credit sales, but future trends of B2B payment practices affecting business confidence in India.

Shortage of capital and restricted business growth due to a deteriorating domestic economy, tighter financial conditions and more competition. Challenging times for Australian businesses.

The use of trade credit in B2B transactions enhances financial flexibility and mitigates negative effects of increased global competition for Hong Kong's large enterprises and SMEs.

APAC economies are vulnerable to weaker global trade, leading to more businesses taking a more strategic approach to credit management.

Payment terms extended by survey respondents in Indonesia are notably more relaxed than last year. Does loosing terms on export sales reflect a need to limit the fall off in export demand?

The global economy is losing steam in 2019 and 2020. Ongoing uncertainty regarding the trade war continues to cloud the outlook.

The adoption of a pension reform that provides savings of at least 600-700 billion reais is key to keep public debt sustainable and to sustain invertors’ confidence in the long-term.

Coupled with high interest rates of more than 60% austerity measures will deepen and lengthen the economic contraction, and a rebound expected in late 2019 at the earliest.

Shock resistance is strong due to prudent economic and financial policies, but a serious disturbance of global trade by protectionism would hurt exports.

GDP is forecast to grow about 3% annually, driven by higher oil prices, investments and consumption, but concerns about the fiscal deficit remain an issue.

Main risks to the outlook are a hard landing of the Chinese economy and social unrest in the mining sector, which could affect the investment climate.

Higher costs of raw materials and import tariffs have increased operational costs and reduced overall profitability in the household appliances segment.

The UK sales outlook for consumer durables in 2019 is more subdued as household finances are strained and private consumption growth is decreasing.

Insolvencies are expected to level off or to increase slightly in 2019, in line with the forecast of a modest 2% increase in Dutch business failures.

Many smaller retailers lack the flexibility and financial means to adapt business models to changing consumer habits, and the credit risk remains elevated.

Retailers´ margins are expected to decrease further due to the fierce competitive market environment in most segments and increased price transparency.

Profit margins of retailers in the online segment to increase slightly in 2019, while brick-and-mortar retailers face continued margin pressure.

The number of payment delays and protracted defaults is expected to remain high in 2019, due to ongoing cash flow problems and restricted access to loans.

Even larger consumer durables retailers could face troubles due to increased financial exposure after acquisitions and the difficult economic environment.

Good payment behaviour in the household appliances, furniture and consumer electronics segments over the past two years, and no major changes are expected.

Both payment delays and insolvencies are expected to increase in the coming six months, mainly affecting smaller consumer durables retailers in Belgium.

With its large population, growing middle class and increasingly modern spending habits Indonesia's retail sector is one of the most promising in Asia.

China´s economic growth is forecast to slow down to 6% while downside risks have increased and business insolvencies will increase further in 2019

India´s economic outlook for 2019 and 2020 remains robust with about 7% growth, but a weak banking sector and high corporate indebtedness are concerns.

Indonesia´s short-term economic prospects are generally positive, but it remains vulnerable to sharply decreasing capital flows to emerging markets.

Japan´s export growth will slow down due to lower global trade expansion, but domestic demand will underpin the economic expansion of about 1% in 2019.

The export sector increasingly benefits from relocation of export-oriented industries away from China, due to Vietnam’s relatively low production costs.

Private consumption and public infrastructure investments sustain Thailand´s economic growth in 2019 and 2020, but high household debt remains an issue.

Economic growth is expected to slow down somewhat in 2019 and 2020, mainly due to lower export growth and the cooling down of the Chinese economic cycle.

Due to its high dependency on international trade, Singapore is highly susceptible to global protectionism and a hard landing of the Chinese economy.

Major infrastructure investment is necessary in order to increase private investments and to safeguard high economic growth rates in the long term.

Due to its high dependency on international trade, South Korea is highly susceptible to global protectionism and a hard landing of the Chinese economy.

Taiwan´s economic expansion is likely to moderate in 2019 and in 2020, as both global trade growth and mainland China´s import demand have cooled down.

After nearly a decade of annual improvements, 2019 is expected to mark the first year of insolvency growth since the crisis.

As many building materials are imported from the EU tariffs or limits on quantities imported after Brexit could lead to higher costs and material shortage.

The construction materials subsector clearly benefits from increased building material prices, and elevated costs are expected to persist throughout 2019.

The payment duration in the industry has increased to 70 days on average, and the payment experience over the past two years has been rather bad.

Many smaller construction companies have weak equity ratios and limited financial scope, which makes them vulnerable to payment delays and defaults.

Competition in the Swedish construction sector is high and consolidation is ongoing, with financially stronger groups buying financially weaker peers.

The insolvency level is high compared to other industries, and after increasing in 2018 business failures are expected rise further in H1 of 2019.

Payment behaviour in the construction industry slowly deteriorated in 2017 and 2018, and this negative trend is expected to continue in the coming months.

The overall indebtedness of many Belgian construction businesses is still high, while banks remain rather unwilling to provide credit to the industry.

Besides the low spending capacity, ongoing tight lending conditions set by banks remain one of the main reasons for the subdued sector performance.