Informes

Still resilient, but profitability is under threat

Increasing pressure from overseas competitors

Most businesses are able to cope with the difficult market conditions

More resilient to market shocks than other industries

Pressure on profitability to remain limited

Concerns about liquidity strain have increased

The Atradius Payment Practices Barometer is an annual survey of business-to-business (B2B) payment practices in markets across the world.

Businesses experience difficulties to source inputs as a result of shocks to global value chains

As government support measures related to the pandemic have ended almost everywhere, we expect insolvencies to rise sharply in some major markets.

Ongoing political uncertainty could weigh negatively on investor sentiment

Companies polled in India told us of the difficulty they found in collecting long unpaid trade debt.

Still robust demand from construction, but downside risks persist.

Higher sales prices do not yet compensate for rise in input prices

Only a slight increase in business failures expected

Lockdowns and woes in the real estate sector weigh on the industry

Gas supply is the key issue

Payment delays and defaults have started to increase in the industry

Many businesses are financially resilient after a good performance in 2021

Robust demand situation set to continue

Shortage of gas supplies is a major downside risk

Financially resilient businesses, but downside risks loom

Increasing insolvencies – but from a historically low level

Profit margins of many business increased in 2021, but several markets are facing major downside risks

Despite rising inflation in the eurozone, we argue it has not yet sprung loose from the ECB target in the medium term

Vietnam: despite some headwinds the economic performance remains strong, and provides business opportunities for exporters

Economic disruptions from the war in Ukraine, lingering lockdown restrictions and multi-decade high inflation have generated a new set of adverse shocks for the global economy

An economic rebound is underway and sectors have recovered, but downside risks persist

The impact of the alarming surge of inflation on businesses, and the consequent need to protect cash flow and profitability, lies at the heart of our latest survey in the USMCA.

The need for strong strategic credit risk management is a high priority in the Canadian market.

Over than 10% increase in the Mexico market in the levels of both B2B customer payment defaults and bad debts written off as uncollectible.

Days-Sales-Outstanding worsens (DSO) for one third of companies polled across all US industries. Payment default from B2B customers remains a major headache for companies.

The 2022 edition of the Atradius Payment Practices Barometer for Asia reveals a sharp rise in B2B bad debts written off as uncollectable. This represents a threat of liquidity strains for businesses.

Companies polled said they tackled the issue with more regular reviews of customer credit behavior to spot warning signs of financial distress.

Businesses polled in China fear that a knock-on effect of payment defaults from B2B customers will trigger liquidity issues.

A wide range of protective measures to mitigate against the impact of customer payment default were used by businesses polled in the United Arab Emirates.

Our survey shows a sharp rise in bad debts written off as uncollectable, revealing a disturbing deterioration in B2B payment practices.

An alarming increase in bad debt write-offs worries companies in Hong Kong, prompting them to seek strategic credit risk management solutions.

Companies polled in India told us of the difficulty they found in collecting long unpaid trade debt.

Debts written off as uncollectable showed an alarming 50% increase in the Singapore market compared to our past survey.

Companies polled in Vietnam said they needed measures to avoid being liquidity squeezed due to the impacts of customer payment default on the business.

ICT is expected to be among the fastest growing sectors in manufacturing, driven by accelerating digitalisation and industrial automation

Lower, but still solid ICT sales and production growth

Government aims to accelerate the digital transformation

Main issues are chip shortage and inflationary pressures

Ongoing domestic sales growth, but there are downside risks

Solid ICT growth expected during the coming years

Digital transformation is a major growth driver

Robust growth continues due to high demand for chips

Smaller ICT retailers face more problems in the coming months

Profit margins of ICT businesses should increase again in 2022