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COFACE engages to support Belgian companies alongside the state

During the current, unprecedented health and economic crisis, the Belgian government, in collaboration with credit insurers, is setting up a reinsurance program to sustain the economy during this difficult period.

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Business failures in France are less frequent, but of a larger size

While the number of companies facing corporate insolvency has decreased since the beginning of the year, their cost has increased, both financially and in terms of the number of jobs affected. After a difficult first quarter, marked by the repercussions of the “yellow vests” movement, the number of corporate insolvencies since the beginning of the year in France is set to decline for the fourth consecutive year. However, Coface expects a slight rebound in insolvencies in 2020 (+0.9%), mainly due to the expected slowdown in the construction sector, which was largely driven by public works in 2019 in the run-up to the municipal elections.

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Coface is recognized as the Best Credit Insurance Company in 2019 by International Finance Magazine

Participating in this prestigious award for the first time, Coface took the highest step on the podium, acknowledging the many initiatives deployed by Coface to better assist its customers.

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Coface Barometer: general slowdown in the global economy despite central banks’ actions

With business morale being affected by a summer marked by a multiplication of areas of political uncertainty around the world, it seems likely that 2020 will be a year of economic decline.

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Agri-food sector outlook: in a global economy marked by protectionist tensions, what does the future hold?

Central to the current trade tensions, notably between the USA and China, the global agri-food sector is impacted by knock on effects, notably via downward trends on the prices of key agri-food commodities, such as soybean. Coface has conducted an in-depth analysis of future trends in this market.

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Netherlands: What is the secret of Dutch trade?

Rising protectionism in China and the United States, Brexit, contracting world trade... despite all the clouds on the horizon, the Dutch economy remains surprisingly bright.

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Asia Corporate Payment Survey 2019: Deteriorating payment trends amid trade war woes

Coface’s 2019 Asia Corporate Payment Survey covered over 3,000 companies in nine economies (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan). 63% of companies surveyed stated that they experienced payment delays in 2018. The length of payment delays increased to 88 days on average in 2018, compared to 84 days in 2017. The length of payment delays was highest in China, Malaysia and Singapore; as well as the energy, construction and ICT sectors.

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Corporate insolvencies in France: microenterprises in the trough of the wave

While the yellow vests movement did have a strong impact on corporate insolvencies at the beginning of the year, the decline in mobilization and the resilience of economic growth had a positive impact on the health of French companies in March and April.

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In a global economic slowdown, luxury continues to outperform but faces new challenges

Counterfeiting, e-commerce, Chinese consumers importance, even if it is generally relatively spared by recessions, the luxury market must adapt to a profoundly changing economy if it does not want to lose its exceptional status.

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Coface delivers a strong first quarter 2019

Net income at €36.4m and RoATE at 9.0%, supported by full impact of Fit to Win plan, portfolio growth and sound underwriting management

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Despite five years of Modinomics, India continues to be constrained by economic fragilities

When Narendra Modi ran for Prime Minister in 2014, he pledged to boost the competitiveness of India’s industrial sector to promote growth. Modi will be running for president again in India’s general elections between 11 April and 19 May. The economy is in a better position than it was in 2014, but many of the structural fragilities that Modi inherited continue to afflict India today and a mixed track record in terms of economic reforms has dampened enthusiasm for Modi.

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China Payment Survey 2019: Longer delays as growth falters

2018 proved to be a relatively challenging year for China. Growth slowed to 6.6% and is expected to decline further in 2019 (6.2%, according to Coface forecasts). As a result, 59% of the 1500 Chinese companies that participated in Coface’s survey believe the economy will not improve in 2019, the worst since 2003 (...)

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Two pitfalls for businesses in 2019: the economic downturn and political risks

Coface will be sharing its vision of the major trends in the world economy in 2019 with businesses at its annual conference on country and sectoral risks.

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Tighter liquidity and Asia : not all gloom and doom in 2019

Asia has been under pressure following tighter global liquidity in 2018. Coface’s index for measuring relative vulnerability to outflows points to increasing divergence in Asia (...)

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French companies in 2019: Rise in insolvencies

In the third quarter of 2018, after two years of improvement, French companies experienced a reversal of the trend with the number of insolvencies increasing by +2.3% (...)

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SMEs in China: Monetary easing won’t be sufficient to reduce credit pressure

When considering risk in the Chinese economy, a lot of the discussion has focused on large State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) or large private conglomerates (...)

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Wind energy industry: Production costs will increase under the influence of the trade war and the liquidity squeeze

Alongside other renewables, wind energy has experienced a strong growth since the mid-2000s across the world (...)

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Halfway through its trade diversification process, the United Arab Emirates is yet to be integrated into international value chains

In the last three decades, the UAE has developed into the second largest and most diversified economy in GCC area through the implementation of specific policy frameworks regarding regulations (...)

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Coface results at 30 September 2018

Coface reports a solid performance confirming the relevance of its strategy and launches additional €15m share buyback programme

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AM Best assigns A (Excellent) rating to Coface North America Insurance Company, with stable outlook

Rating agency AM Best has just assigned Coface North America Insurance Company the ‘A’ (Excellent) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating, with stable outlook.

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