First Half of 2010 Shows Major Improvement in Risk Scores for Very Large Businesses, According to Experian’s Latest Business Benchmark Report

• The average commercial risk score for June was 58.2. When compared with the beginning of the year, this score has improved by 1.6 percent. However, Q2 showed some decline, as the national average score has actually fallen by 1 percent since March when it peaked at 58.6.
• Almost all industry sectors have shown improvement in the risk score category since the end of Q1. The greatest improvements were found in Public Administration (from 60.4 to 61.4 — 1.7 percent), followed closely by Transportation (from 52.1 to 52.9 — 1.6 percent).
• All regions have shown improvement in the risk score category during the first half of 2010. The Northwest and Plains states showed the greatest increase year to date, improving from 55.3 to 60.4 (2.14 percent) and from 57.1 to 61.6 (2.1 percent), respectively. Of the states with the largest metropolitan areas, those that showed the greatest improvements for the half were Michigan; Washington, D.C.; and Illinois — increasing from 58.3 to 59.7 (2.5 percent), from 56.7 to 58.1 (2.5 percent) and from 57.6 to 58.6 (1.9 percent), respectively.

Average days beyond terms (DBT):

• Since the beginning of the year, the national average number of days that businesses paid their bills beyond contracted terms increased by almost 10 percent. In Q2, however, this metric seems to have stabilized.
• Midsize firms (those with 50 to 499 employees) were the only businesses that showed improvement in payment performance since the beginning of the year, seeing positive shifts by as much as 2.7 percent. Although flat overall in the first half, in Q2, smaller businesses (those with 20 to 49 employees) have begun showing significant improvement, decreasing their DBT by 1.8 percent in the quarter.
• All industry groups have shown an increase in DBT since the beginning of the year. Since the start of Q2, however, the Construction, Retail Trade and Utilities sectors have shown improvements by as much as 1.4 percent.
• The Mid-Atlantic States, New England and the Northwest were the only regions to show signs of improvement in their average DBT since the beginning of Q2. New York, Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania were the only states with the largest metropolitan areas that stayed well below the national average DBT but also showed improvement in their payment performance in Q2.

Percentage of dollars delinquent:

• Businesses of all sizes have remained somewhat stable and saw only slight variations in the average percentage of dollars delinquent and percentage of dollars severely delinquent since the beginning of the year. The only exceptions were seen in very large businesses with more than 1,000 employees and midsize businesses with 100 to 249 employees, which saw significant improvements in percentage of dollars delinquent.
• Since the beginning of the year, nearly all industry groups remained stable in the percentage of dollars delinquent and severely delinquent. Exceptions include the Utilities and Retail Trade sectors, which showed significant improvements in the percentage of dollars delinquent. The Utilities sector also saw a significant improvement in the percentage of severely delinquent dollars.
• California, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania were the only states with the largest metropolitan areas that showed improvement in the average percentage of dollars delinquent since the beginning of the year. In terms of percentage of dollars severely delinquent, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California were the only ones that consistently fell below the national average since the beginning of the year.