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| Coface UK & Ireland advises businesses to act now to protect against losses caused by the ash cloudBusinesses must take proactive measures to protect themselves against losses caused by eruptions of the Icelandic volcano, advised leading credit management specialist Coface – UK & Ireland.
By: Coface UK The leading provider of country, sector and business climate ratings and a world leader in credit management services, issued its advice ahead of its annual Country Risk Conference at The Palace Hotel, Manchester, on Wednesday, 9th June. Businesses that suffered greatly from the disruption included airlines – they were collectively losing £130m a day in revenues during the bans on flights across European airspace and have since suffered further multi-million pound losses* – exporters of perishable goods, those whose products are time or mission critical and companies which trade primarily with mainland Europe. Firms will also have experienced indirect costs and disruption such as the ash cloud forcing the cancellation of meetings and delays to staff returning from holidays and business trips both in the UK and abroad. Ian Hollyhomes, Director of Credit Insurance Department of Coface - UK & Ireland, said: “Effects of the volcanic ash won’t be catastrophic and the eruptions may reportedly have ceased but with the situation remaining volatile and unpredictable it could yet take a toll on a UK economy still struggling in a very fragile recovery. “It is essential that businesses affected in any way by the eruptions in Iceland have contingency plans in place for situations of this kind.” He said that businesses require strong credit management to address potentially damaging issues such as: • disruption to their cash flow; • disruption to customers’ cash flow that may cause a decline in demand or late payment or even non-payment of bills; • the need to monitor the financial position of customers and/or suppliers facing their own volatility for a prolonged period “The total effect on gross domestic product could be offset by the fact that losses suffered by some sectors could be more than compensated for by others but while this helps the overall picture it’s no consolation to businesses that have had money wiped from their bottom line,” added Ian. Speakers at the half-day conference are Juan Gomez and Dr Mohamed Djeddour, Head of Economic Strategy at Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy and Head of International Business Programmes at Manchester Business School (MBS) respectively, Philip King, chief executive of the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) and Coface Analyst Christine Altuzarra. The Conference – to be hosted by Xavier Denecker, the managing director of Coface – UK & Ireland – is targeted at finance directors and credit management professionals, their advisers and those with an interest in country risk. ends • Source: The International Air Transport Association For further information on the Conference and how to attend please contact Heidi Cotsworth at Coface - UK & Ireland on email at heidi_cotsworth@ Media: For further information on this press release please contact Justin Strong or Anna Asamoah, SKV Communications, on 0161 838 7770 or e-mail at firstname.surname@ Notes to editors: • Coface is a leading provider of country, sector and business climate ratings, providing country ratings for 165 countries. The country and sector ratings assess the average level of risk of payment default associated with a country’s companies and business sectors • Coface also provides a ‘business climate’ rating to assess the overall business environment in a country and the degree and reliability of corporate information and if a country’s legal system provides fair and efficient creditor protection • Coface is a world leader in credit management - primarily credit insurance but also business information and ratings, receivables finance (invoice discounting) • Coface serves businesses that trade either domestically or overseas on credit terms. Its clients range from multi-nationals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) • Coface - UK & Ireland is part of Coface Group headquartered in Paris and owned by Natixis, a top five investment and corporate bank in France • Coface - UK & Ireland has offices in London, Watford, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and Dublin. About Coface Coface's mission is to facilitate global business-to- Thanks to the worldwide local service delivered by 6,600 staff in 67 countries, over 45% of the world's 500 largest corporate groups are already customers of Coface. Coface is a subsidiary of Natixis whose share capital (Tier 1) was 12.7 billion euros at the end of December 2009. In the UK and Republic of Ireland Coface has been a leading provider of credit management services (http://www.cofaceuk.com/ The company’s credit insurance (http://www.cofaceuk.com/ The company also provides access to domestic and international business information and a collection network at home and overseas. Coface is also a recognised operator in the London political risk market and a provider of surety bonds and guarantees. www.cofaceuk.com and www.coface.ie # # # We offer trade credit management solutions from credit insurance to related services such as credit reports, online credit ratings, debt collection, and receivables finance, our holistic approach to credit management gives you greater flexibility. End
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