Quarter of Swiss companies fail to pay bills on time
Companies in French-speaking Switzerland featured high up in the ranking.
Keystone
Nearly a quarter of businesses in Switzerland did not pay their bills on time in 2017, found the business information service Bisnode D&BExternal link in a survey published on Wednesday.
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The exact figure was 23.3% which was only 0.3% fewer late-payers compared to 2016. The average delay of payments was also shorter in 2017, averaging 14.4 days, compared to 15.7 in 2016.
It was noticeable how many companies in French-speaking Switzerland featured high in the ranking, with 32.9-41.2% of businesses in the region not paying on time. Bern and the cantons of central Switzerland were most likely to settle bills without delay.
Most defaulting payers could be found in the clothing, hospitality and automobile sectors. Around a third of these companies were in arrears.
By contrast, recruitment agencies, the finance, real estate and insurance sectors were most likely to settle bills on time, with only between 10.8% and 13.1% of businesses falling behind with their payments.
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