Factoring guarantees more than 11% of the European GDP. In Portugal it represents 15.4% – O Jornal Económico
Factoring is reinforcing its weight in the European economy, in the second year of the pandemic, as shown by data for the first half of the year, revealed by the European Federation of the sector.
In the accumulated result for the European continent, the value of about one billion euros was reached in the first half of 2021.
In Portugal, Factoring represented, at the end of the first semester, 15.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the result of a 4.1% growth in loans taken over the same period last year.
In the first six months of this year, the total credit taken by Factoring in Portugal was in the order of 15.8 million euros.
The growing weight of Factoring in the European Union is strongly driven by the performance of the biggest players in this sector, France, Germany and Italy. Together, the three emerging markets 55% of the 787.2 billion euros registered by Factoring in the common space. In these countries, the loans taken out grew above the respective GDP, with Germany in a special plan, with an increase of 8.6% in Factoring.
“The resilience of Factoring is also verified when we consider the continent’s total – an accounting that already includes the United Kingdom, the second largest market for the sector -, with a clear recovery and in line with the Union space, with a production of 953.4 billion”, says the Factoring association in a statement.
In the first half of 2020, a period partially limited by confinement across the continent, European countries totaled only €853.2 billion in credits taken. The recovery in the first half of 2021 represents a return to growth, even in relation to 2019 values, when the European market took 896.5 billion in credits, compared to 953.4 billion in 2021.
“In the first half of 2021 there was a clear increase in the use of Factoring by companies as a result of the increase in economic transactions”, notes Pedro Cunha, vice president of the Portuguese Leasing, Factoring and Renting Association (ALF) responsible for Factoring
“As the European ‘engine’ Germany demonstrates so well, Factoring is a key part of providing companies with support that ensures them agility and security in payments and receipts, allowing them to focus on fundamental challenges and investments, such as they are innovation, digitization, change to change and fundamentally, developing your business”, said Pedro Cunha.
No factorinh like companies can acquire short term credits, purchase the product of goods and services. In other words, with factoring, companies can convert commercial credits on debtor customers, in order to obtain liquidity more immediately.