EOS Five Nations Survey 2009 ‘European Payment Practices’:

Payment behaviour investigated in Bulgaria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Hungary.

High proportion of payments paid punctually in Switzerland and Germany / Comparatively small proportion in Hungary and Bulgaria / Hardly any bad debt losses reported in the UK and Switzerland / Deterioration in payment behaviour expected

Hamburg, 31 July 2009 – Companies in Switzerland and Germany benefit from their customers’ relatively high level of payment. This is one result from the EOS five-nation survey 2009 ‘European Payment Practices’. For the purposes of the survey, 1200 companies in five European countries were questioned by the international EOS Group, a provider in the areas of information management, arrears management and receivables management, in cooperation with the independent market research institute Ipsos.

The proportion of punctual payments is 75% in Switzerland and 77% in Germany. In contrast, 59% of invoices are settled on time in the United Kingdom, 53% in Bulgaria and 21% in Hungary. On average, the companies in the survey grant their customers a payment period of between 31 and 33 days. Germany is the exception to this: there, the average payment period is considerably shorter at 25 days. Financial bottlenecks in companies are one of the possible consequences of late payments. Cash flow problems have already been encountered by nearly one in three Hungarian companies (29%) as a result of delayed payments or bad debt losses.

Late payments do not necessarily mean a high ratio of bad debt losses in companies: a large number of Britons, for example, neglect to pay their bills on time (59%).

And yet British companies – like Swiss companies – actually have to write off only 1.4% of all their receivables. This is the lowest level among all the countries surveyed. Companies in Hungary (5.3%), Bulgaria (4%) and Germany (2.1%) report a considerably higher proportion of bad debt losses.

In all the countries surveyed, the companies questioned are tending towards pessimism about the future: A large number – 49% – are expecting payment behaviour to deteriorate in the next two years. A majority (82%) of the managers questioned are expecting an increase in private and company insolvencies.

Hans-Werner Scherer, Chairman of the EOS Group’s Board of Directors, comments on the purpose of the survey as follows: ‘The results of the survey supply companies with important information for the organization of their credit and receivables management, especially if they operate internationally. This should help them to keep their business risks low.’

About the EOS Five Nations Survey 2009 ‘European Payment Practices’

In the spring of 2009, in cooperation with the independent market research organization Ipsos, the EOS Group asked a total of 1200 companies in five countries about prevailing payment practices in their respective countries. 200 companies in Bulgaria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Hungary respectively and 400 companies in Germany answered questions on all aspects of their payment experiences, economic trends in their home countries and the general topics of risk management and receivables management. Further results from the survey can be found online at www.eos-solutions.com/surveys.

The EOS Group

With approximately 4000 employees in more than 20 countries, the EOS Group, an Otto Group company, is one of the leading financial services providers in Europe. The over 40 subsiduaries in the Group provide services in Information Management, Arrears Management and Receivables Management. EOS has over 20,000 clients world-wide representing the banking, insurance, manufacturing, mail order, utility and telecom industries, as well as many others. Further information: www.eos-solutions.com.

Contact: Lara Flemming, Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing, Tel.: +49 40 2850-1560, e-mail: l.flemming@yXdZasMZdseos-solutions.com