COSTA MESA, Calif.,
Feb. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Experian®, the leading global information services
company, today announced new insights from its Experian/Moody's
Analytics Small Business Credit Index that showed small businesses
continue to have access to a wider availability of credit as credit
conditions reached the highest level on record, improving for the
third consecutive quarter. According to the most recent report,
outstanding credit balances grew by 2.2 percent from a year ago,
while delinquency rates declined to a cyclical low of 8.5 percent,
both of which contributed to the improvement in the index.
To download a copy of the report, visit
http://bit.ly/1vshZN4.
"Small businesses are finally kicking into high gear," said
Mark Zandi, chief economist for
Moody's Analytics. "They are investing and hiring more and are
borrowing more to finance their expansion. They are also repaying
what they have already borrowed in a more timely way. Business
conditions are much improved and will likely improve even more in
coming quarters."
Findings from the report also showed that small businesses have
helped themselves, improving their risk and payment behavior across
the board. Most notably, over the last year, small businesses have
reduced the number of days they paid their bills beyond contacted
terms by full a day, or more than 19 percent. Over the same time
period, the average commercial risk score1 for a small
business rose 3.1 percent to reach 61.6, while bankruptcy rates
dropped significantly, with 10.9 percent fewer businesses
filing.
"Over the last several quarters, we've seen small-business
credit conditions continuously soar to new heights, making the
struggles in the early part of 2014 seem like a distant memory,"
said Dan Meder, vice president for
Experian's Business Information Services. "It will be interesting
to see if small businesses can continue to maintain this payment
behavior as we move through 2015. If they can, the credit spigot
will continue to widen, opening up more opportunity for small
businesses to grow."
"Small businesses, however, are not the only ones benefitting
from improved payment performance. It's also a good sign for
lenders and suppliers, as increased confidence in small businesses'
ability to pay can lead to increased availability of credit and
more sales," continued Meder. "With that said, lenders and
suppliers will want to keep a close eye on how the data continues
to trend. The insight that they can extract from observing payment
trends will enable them to take the right action to reduce risk and
make more confident decisions."
From a regional perspective, small-business credit quality
continues to be split, with western states faring better than those
east of the Mississippi. Small businesses in the Mountain West
region enjoy substantially lower delinquency rates than the rest of
the country, while those in the Northeast and Midwest continue to
lag as the housing market recuperates.
For more information on the Experian/Moody's Analytics Small
Business Credit Index, visit http://bit.ly/1vshZN4.
About the Experian/Moody's Analytics Small Business Credit
Index
Experian joined forces with Moody's Analytics, a
leading independent provider of economic forecasting, to create a
business index and detailed report that provides insight into the
health of U.S. businesses. The Experian/Moody's Analytics Small
Business Credit Index is reported quarterly to show fluctuations in
the market and discuss factors that are impacting the business
economy.
About Experian's Business Information
Services
Experian's Business Information Services is a
leader in providing data and predictive insights to organizations,
helping them mitigate risk and improve profitability. The company's
business database provides comprehensive, third-party-verified
information on virtually all U.S. companies, with the industry's
most extensive data on the broad spectrum of small and midsize
businesses.
By leveraging state-of-the-art technology and superior data
compilation techniques, Experian provides market-leading tools that
proactively support the entire credit life cycle, enabling our
clients to find new customers, process new applications, manage
customer relationships and collect on delinquent accounts.
About Experian
We are the leading global information
services company, providing data and analytical tools to our
clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk,
prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision
making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit
score, and protect against identity theft. In 2014, we were named
by Forbes magazine as one of the "World's Most Innovative
Companies."
We employ approximately 16,000 people in 39 countries and our
corporate headquarters are in Dublin,
Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and
is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year
ended March 31, 2014, was
US$4.8 billion.
To find out more about our company, please visit
http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside
Experian."
Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other
product and company names mentioned herein are the property of
their respective owners.
1Based on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100
being least risky); predicts the likelihood of severe delinquency
(more than 91 days past due) within the next 12 months
Contact:
Jordan
Takeyama
Experian Public Relations
1 714
830 7561
jordan.takeyama@experian.com
Twitter: @JordanTakeyama
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/LA51658LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growth-in-credit-balances-and-the-decline-in-delinquency-rates-push-small-business-credit-conditions-to-new-heights-300037377.html
SOURCE Experian
