Payment delays: catering and energy the hardest hit sectors

In the catering sector, 7% of the enterprises pay over 90 days. This is followed by the energy and telecommunications sector (4.7%) and real estate leasing (4.7%). These are the product sectors most in difficulty according to the latest Study of Payments by Cribis, a specialised company of the Crif group, updated to 30 September and reviewed in a preview in Monday's Sole 24 Ore.

Payment times affect cash flows and can complicate - even severely - companies' liquidity management. This is why it is important to monitor the sectors most in arrears and to act promptly. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, there was a reduction in delays of more than 90 days for the ceramics industry, where the incidence of overdue payments, however, remains high: the sector recorded the highest average payment time of 96 days, against a national average of 67 days (it was 71 in the third quarter of 2023). This is followed by the 80 days recorded on average in the machinery and electrical equipment industry, and the 79 days in the steel industry, with a 2.5% improvement in delays over 90 days. Above average payment times were also recorded in the chemicals sector (73 days), construction (71 days) and textiles (69 days). In contrast, the most punctual sector is personal services (34 days).

However, the overall picture is one of greater stability: the data shows an increase in on-time payments compared to the immediate post-pandemic years in which business distress resulted in less punctual payments in several sectors.

At the end of September 2024, companies paying on time accounted for 44.3 per cent of the total, with a slight increase in punctual payments compared to the third quarter of 2023 (+0.4 per cent); serious delays of more than 90 days (4 per cent) decreased by 0.8 per cent. "In the first nine months," says Marco Preti, CEO of Cribis, "we noted a positive response from companies, an improvement in average payment times, but still with a clear difference between Northern and Southern Italy. Between the end of 2019 and 2020, there had been a substantial increase in serious delays, reflecting the impacts of the pandemic and greater liquidity difficulties. 'Since 2021 the trend has been decreasing,' he adds, 'and continues today, with values closer to pre-pandemic levels'.

In detail, micro-businesses show worse performance, while medium-sized companies are less prone to serious delays: micro-businesses pay on time in 45.4% of the cases, but also record the highest level of serious delays (4.6%) compared to the average; on the contrary, medium-sized companies have fewer delays over 90 days (1.5%). From the analysis by geographical area, the North-East is still the most reliable area with 52.7% of payments made on time, while companies in the South and Islands show less virtuous behaviour with only 31.4% of payments made on time, and 6.7% of companies paying with serious delays. Leading the way are Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, whose companies pay on time in 54.3%, 54.3% and 52.7% of cases respectively, while there are more critical situations for Campania (32.3%), Sardinia (31.6%) and Sicily (25.3%).