EOS Five Nations Survey 2009 on European Payment Practices

HAMBURG, Germany — Companies in Switzerland and Germany benefit from their customers’ relatively high level of payment. This is one result from the EOS survey ‘European Payment Practices’: In cooperation with the independent market research institute Ipsos, the international EOS Group, a provider in the areas of information management, arrears management and receivables management, questioned 1200 companies in five European countries.

The proportion of punctual payments is 75% in Switzerland and 77% in Germany. In contrast, 59% of invoices are settled on time in the United Kingdom, 53% in Bulgaria and 21% in Hungary. On average, the surveyed companies grant their customers a payment period of between 31 and 33 days. Germany is the exception: there, the average payment period is considerably shorter at 25 days. Financial bottlenecks in companies are one of the possible consequences of late payments. Cash flow problems have already been encountered by nearly one in three Hungarian companies (29%) as a result of delayed payments or bad debt losses.

Late payments do not necessarily mean a high ratio of bad debt losses in companies: a large number of Britons, for example, neglect to pay their bills on time (59%).

Yet British companies – like Swiss companies – only have to write off 1.4% of all their receivables. This is the lowest level among the countries surveyed. Companies in Hungary (5.3%), Bulgaria (4%) and Germany (2.1%) report a considerably higher proportion of bad debt losses.

In all the countries surveyed, the companies questioned are tending towards pessimism about the future: A large number – 49% – are expecting payment behaviour to deteriorate in the next two years. A majority (82%) of the managers questioned are expecting an increase in private and company insolvencies.

The EOS Group
With approximately 4000 employees in more than 20 countries, the EOS Group, an Otto Group company, is one of the leading financial services providers in the areas of Information Management, Arrears Management and Receivables Management. Further information: http://www.eos-solutions.com.