Payment discipline of companies in ČR worst in last 3 yrs

Prague, Jan 23 (CTK) - Entrepreneurs and companies in CR paid invoices for supplied goods and services four days later last year than in 2011, within 71 days on average in 2011 and 75 days in 2012, the worst result in the last three years, according to a regular analysis of CSOB Factoring.

Suppliers of services and goods for the health sector had to wait the longest, 106 days on average, to get paid but the return on their claims improved by 2 days last year.

In engineering, payments were made within 85 days on average, 7 days later than in 2011, and in construction suppliers waited 4 days longer - for 82 days.

The payment discipline has been getting worse for several years. This is due to the uncertainty about further economic development and thus also cautious behaviour of consumers, banks, companies and the state. Due to this, there is less money in the economy and it takes more time before invoices are paid, said CSOB Factoring sales director Jindrich Horak.

Payment discipline of companies in the Czech Republic is one of the worst in the region. Moreover, in the Czech Republic payments were made on average fifteen days after the due date on the invoice, while in Germany it was one day ahead of the date.

CSOB Factoring's index for Q4 2012 signals economic stagnation. Based on the relation between the return on claims and GDP development with the use of data since 2005, the index indicates further economic development.

"For the fourth quarter, CSOB Factoring's index signals continuing economic decline which in the best case may be replaced by stagnation," said the index's author Petr Zamecnik of the firm Fincentrum.

List of selected sectors in CR with real return on claims (in days):

2012 2011 2010
Health care 106 108 98
Engineering 85 78 73
Food production 78 69 74
Construction 82 78 75
Transport 66 63 63
Retail 78 77 73
Automotive 59 44 51
TOTAL 75 71 70

Payment discipline in selected countries (in days):

Average return on claims after issue of invoice Average delay in payment after due date
2012 2011 2010 2012 2011 2010
Germany 40 39 40 -1 -1 6
Slovakia 65 72 76 9 8 8
CzechRep 75 71 70 15 14 14
France 60 62 62 1 0 0
Austria 58 58 59 3 3 3

Source: CSOB Factoring