Commercial Risk Scores Up 1.8 Percent Since Beginning of the Year, According to Experian's Latest Business Benchmark Report

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced the results of its monthly Business Benchmark Report. Findings from the April report show that the national average commercial risk score is up by 1.8 percent since January 2010. This month's report also shows that beleaguered industry sectors such as Construction and Retail showed the first improvement in their average risk scores since mid- 2009. Additionally, April's data indicates that midsize businesses have shown the greatest improvement in the percentage of delinquent dollars since the beginning of the year.

Other key findings from this month's Business Benchmark Report include the following:

Risk score:

• The national average commercial risk score was 58.15* in April, which was down only slightly from March. However, the national average is still up 1.8 percent year to date, indicating a continuing positive trend overall for 2010.
• Year-to-date improvement in risk score has been driven mostly by improvement in the non-employer firm category, which has improved 4.2 percent thus far in 2010. In addition, businesses with more than 1,000 employees have also seen a big improvement year-to-date, jumping 13.3 percent. This is a positive sign for the economy, as large businesses continue to show a significant upward trend in meeting obligations in a more timely fashion.
• Construction, Utilities, Wholesale Trade and Retail were the only industry groups that saw a slight improvement in risk score over last month. This change marks the first increase in commercial risk score seen in the Construction and Retail sectors since August and June 2009, respectively.
• The Plains states continue to have the highest risk score average of all geographic areas (61.84), while the Northeast has the lowest (55.43). Average risk scores for some of the states with large metropolitan areas include: California (57.24); Texas (57.11); Washington, D.C. (56.83); New York (54.55); and Florida (53.19).

*Based on a 100-point scale

Average days beyond terms (DBT):

Average days beyond terms have increased slightly in recent months, and overall are up 1.5 percent in 2010, with the exception of those midsize businesses in the 50- to 250-employee range. Those businesses are flat with our January results.

• Payment performance from all industry groups continued to stabilize in April. Industries such as Health Services (4.90 DBT) and Public Administration (5.07 DBT) are among those with the best payment performance - well below the national average.
• Another positive note: Hospitality, Retail and Construction, which have struggled during the downturn, have seen the greatest improvements in payment behavior over the last two months, improving by 2.9, 1.2 and .67 percent, respectively.
• The Mountain states showed the greatest change in payment performance over last month, improving by 1.5 percent. Some states with large metropolitan areas, such as Texas (5.66), California (5.23) and New York (4.19), all came in well below the national average of 6.24 DBT.

Percentage of dollars delinquent:

• In April, the national average percentage of dollars delinquent continued to decline, improving by 1 percent over the last six months. As well, the percentage of dollars severely (91-plus days) delinquent has improved slightly since the beginning of the year (-0.1 percent year to date).
• Businesses of all sizes have remained stable in the average percentage of dollars delinquent, with midsize businesses in the 100- to 249-employee range showing a 0.3 percent improvement year to date.
• Although a bit higher than the national average, the Retail sector has shown a continual decrease in the percent of delinquent dollars over the last two months, improving by 11 percent since February. The Real Estate and Hospitality industries have remained stable in the percentage of dollars severely delinquent since the beginning of the year, coming in at 3.01 and 1.88 percent respectively - both well below the national average.
• The Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions both saw a 7.7 percent improvement in the percent of dollars delinquent in April, and all U.S. regions remained stable in the percentage of dollars severely delinquent. Additionally, Texas (10.2 percent), Arizona (9.79 percent) and California (8.95 percent) remain among the areas with the lowest percentage of dollars delinquent. California improved 3.5 percent over last month. In terms of percentage of dollars severely delinquent, California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas were among the areas falling well below the national average.

To download the full report or to see a visual representation of this data and other information broken down by state in an interactive map, visit http://www.experian.com/business-benchmark-report.

About the Business Benchmark Report

Experian's Business Benchmark Report is a monthly look at how businesses are faring in the United States. Designed to monitor the progress of business recovery, the report looks at four key indicators of business health, including commercial risk score, days beyond payment terms, percentage of dollars delinquent and percentage of dollars severely delinquent.

About Experian's Business Information Services

Experian's Business Information Services partners with organizations to establish and strengthen customer relationships, enabling them to mitigate risk and improve profitability. The company's business database provides comprehensive, third-party-verified information on U.S. companies of all sizes, 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 is able to provide market-leading tools that assist clients in processing new applications, managing customer relationships and collecting on delinquent accounts. For more information about Experian's advanced business-to-business products and services, visit http://www.experian.com/b2b or call 1 800 520 1221.

About Experian

Experian® is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

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, 2010, was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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SOURCE Experian