overnight Ireland’s status as one of the most thriving economies in the world came to an abrupt end and the era of boom to bust began.
Access to credit became, and remains, a big problem. Despite government intervention to force Irish banks involved in the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to make credit available, Irish businesses are still faced with tough lending restrictions along with an unprecedented culture of late payment. In such an environment the Irish invoice finance industry is presented with an opportunity to leverage the need for flexible funding solutions amongst Irish SME’s and BFS Ireland is well positioned to continue to build on this.
service both markets locally and offer an increased variety of products tailored to meet the requirements of SME’s whether trading domestically or internationally. We have witnessed a substantial growth in demand for our invoice finance facilities across many sectors since the opening of the Dublin office almost five years ago and with little indication that the Irish banks have an appetite to rush back in to fund SMEs this looks set to continue.
As we look forward to the year ahead we project both an increase in funding capacity to Irish SMEs and the further expansion of our Dublin and Belfast offices which currently employs 20. With an experienced management team and the support and stability of the Bibby Financial Services Group, 2011 should see the Irish operation continue its strong performance.
Graham Byrne Director
Italy Ifitalia
Graham Byrne
Irish SME’s are arguably more knowledgeable than ever about the options available to them, and now invoice finance is increasingly seen as a credible finance solution. Whereas in previous years invoice finance in Ireland had a relatively low penetration rate in contrast to larger markets, this is now changing. The negative associations once linked to invoice finance are no longer the norm. We have been able to take advantage of the lack of liquidity elsewhere and have attracted larger clients who have been declined or discarded by the bank providers in this current climate. This has resulted in BFS Ireland market share increasing with double digit growth recorded in client numbers, debts factored and income with even greater growth expected with a forecast of debts factored exceeding €100m. The opening of the Belfast office back in 2009 has played a key role in our expansion plans and had given BFS Ireland a presence both north and south of the border. BFSI can now
The environment for factoring in Italy remains positive, with an increasing turnover in 2010. Ifitalia will probably close the year with a turnover in line with expectations that is about €23bn. Also in 2010, Ifitalia has adopted successful strategies to boost the profitability of the business, which is expected to show a fair increase. About 80% of the annual turnover will be assigned on a non-recourse basis. Target markets will continue to be mid- corporate and large-corporate, but Ifitalia is concentrating also on the retail segment, with particular reference to clients of the parent bank. Ifitalia occupies second position in the Italian factoring market, the third largest market in the world. The company employs about 280 people. The general economic situation in Italy remains uncertain, as in most EU countries. However, the market conditions and the restrictive attitude of many banks and insurance companies have opened new interesting opportunities for factoring companies. The global crisis has made it clear that factoring can provide effective solutions for reducing risks and this has increased the interest for the products and services offered by our industry. The uncertainties connected with future economic scenarios make it hard to predict
Business Money Massimo Ferraris
next years market trend. Anyway, looking forward to the last quarter of 2010 and to next year we feel confident enough in terms of growth prospects, expecting demand for factoring products to be on the rise. In 2010 Ifitalia will maintain its leadership, with a market share close to 20% thanks to its experienced management team and the proactive support of BNP Paribas Group. Ifitalia will continue to be a provider of effective and efficient factoring services in both domestic and international markets, with a strong focus on quality and product innovation.
Massimo Ferraris General Manager
New Zealand Lock Finance
Lock Finance is a specialised working capital finance provider for the SME sector in Auckland, New Zealand. “Rugby, Racing and Beer” – it has been said that is all Kiwis ever care about. As the Rugby world cup looms ahead here in 2011 that old saying is perhaps true again, especially because there is not much in the economy to get excited about. The Rugby world cup will be one of the biggest sports events ever in New Zealand with 1.65 million tickets being sold and over 100,000 visitors expected. For many New Zealand companies
2010 has been a long year. A high exchange rate has made life tough for exporters, retail sales are weak, real estate values have fallen, and bank credit terms remain very tight. On top of this the Canterbury region suffered a 7.1 earthquake in September, miraculously without loss of life, but requiring major building and infrastructure work in that
November/December 2010 85
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