82% of the companies received requests to extend the payment period

Spanish companies will face the second half of the year with many challenges ahead. Among them is the default. This is reflected in Intrum’s latest European Payments Report, which will be published in full on May 23, and which includes updated data for 2023 on the financial well-being and economic management strategies of European companies.

As this annual study shows, 82% of Spanish entities have received requests from their customers to accept longer payment terms, up 6 percentage points from the figure recorded in 2022 (76%).

The increase in interest rates and the difficulties in converting higher costs of production into sales prices do not improve the number of organizations in a state of weakness, causing some to find it increasingly difficult to pay their suppliers on time, and, in turn, that they themselves suffer the consequences of being late in paying bills from their customers.

And despite the increase in requests to extend payment deadlines, according to the Intrum study, the percentage of companies that agreed to extend these terms is still 69%, the same percentage as a year ago.

Default risk

The context of this uncertainty indicates an increased risk of non-payment in the coming months: 67% of Spanish institutions believe that debtors will have more difficulty making their payments. A figure much higher than that of 2022, when 57% made this statement, and more in line with the figure recorded in 2021, during the context of the pandemic, of 65%.

This perception is also well above the European average (60%). In fact, of the 29 markets analyzed by the leading credit and asset management services firm, Spain is the second country, after Estonia (73%), with the highest number of companies with this fear, above other regions. Such as Italy (66%), the United Kingdom (61%), France (59%), Portugal (58%) or Germany (56%).

All these numbers show the need for more efficiency in the processes of receiving and claiming payments in companies. In this way, companies will not only be able to be more positive in terms of anticipating delays in paying bills, but also in obtaining financial results. To achieve this the answer lies in learning to be more effective and betting largely on the support of partners who specialize in recovery and prevention of bad debts.