Costa Mesa , Calif. , June 22, 2010 — Experian^®, the leading global information services company, today announced the results of its monthly Business Benchmark Report. Findings from the May report show that for the first time this year, all industry sectors have shown a marked improvement in their commercial risk scores month over month. This month’s report also shows significant improvements in outstanding debt, with the national average percentage of dollars delinquent showing a 4 percent improvement and the percentage of dollars severely (more than 91 days) delinquent seeing a 2 percent improvement since December 2009.

 

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

 

Risk score:

·         The trend toward continuing stability in the national average commercial risk score continued in May. The national average was 58.21,* a slight improvement over last month and a 0.9 percent increase over the past six months.

·         With the exception of very large businesses (those with 1,000 or more employees), risk scores have improved across the board since April. The greatest improvements were seen in businesses with 50 to 999 employees, showing an up to 3 percent improvement.

·         For the first time since the beginning of 2010, all industry sectors have shown marked improvement in their risk scores month over month. The greatest improvement was found in Public Administration (2.8 percent), followed closely by Transportation (1.9 percent) and Utilities (1.6 percent).

·         Of the states with the largest metropolitan areas, Pennsylvania (61.45), Massachusetts (61.18) and Illinois (58.9) were the only areas that exceeded the national average of 58.21. Georgia (55.27), New York (54.12) and Florida (53.26) ranked among those with the lowest average risk scores.

 

*Based on a 100 point scale

 

Average days beyond terms (DBT):

·         Although increasing slightly from April, payment performance from all industry groups continued to show signs of stabilization in May. Industries such as Health Services (5.01 DBT), Public Administration (5.19 DBT) and Utilities (5.20 DBT) are well below the national average and continue to be among those with the best payment performance.

·         When looking at business size, however, only midsize businesses (with 100 to 499 employees) remained stable, while all other business sizes saw an increase in the average DBT since last month.

·         In May, New England was the only geographic area to show signs of improvement in its average DBT. However, of the states with the largest metropolitan areas, New York (4.18) had the lowest average DBT, followed by Massachusetts (5.07), California (5.3), Pennsylvania (5.32) and Texas (5.79) — all well below the national average.

 

Percentage of dollars delinquent:

·         The national average percentage of dollars delinquent has shown a 4 percent improvement over the past six months, while percentage of dollars severely (more than 91 days) delinquent has seen a 2 percent improvement over the past six months.

·         Businesses of all sizes have remained stable in the average percentage of dollars delinquent and percentage of dollars severely delinquent in May. The one exception is large businesses with 250 to 999 employees, which saw a slight increase over April’s severe delinquency numbers.

·         In May, nearly all industry groups remained stable in the amount of dollars delinquent and severely delinquent, with the exception of the Real Estate, Insurance and Communications sectors, which showed significant improvements in the amount of dollars delinquent.

·         The Plains states saw an 8.3 percent improvement in the percentage of dollars delinquent in May, and the Northeast saw a 20 percent decline in the percentage of dollars considered severely (more than 91 days) delinquent. All other U.S. regions in this category remained stable.

·         California (9.16), Texas (10.34) and Massachusetts (11.0) were the only states with the largest metropolitan areas that fell below the national average percentage of dollars delinquent. In terms of percentage of dollars severely delinquent, Texas (3.81), Massachusetts (3.99), Pennsylvania (4.35) and California (4.55) fell below the national average.

 

May 2010					Six-month change
	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
National average	58.21	6.37	11.5%	5.3%		-0.9%	4%	-4%	-2%
Number of employees
Nonemployer	60.15	5.61	7.6%	4.8%		-0.4%	4.3%	-8.1%	-2.4%
1 to 4	56.75	6.88	13.1%	7.9%		-1.9%	5.1%	-3.4%	-0.8%
5 to 9	54.56	8.14	13.9%	7.4%		-1.7%	4.0%	-3.2%	0.6%
10 to 19	53.90	8.34	13.8%	6.1%		-1.4%	3.6%	-3.7%	-1.1%
20 to 49	55.29	8.01	12.9%	4.6%		-1.0%	2.8%	-5.4%	-1.9%
50 to 99	56.09	7.52	14.0%	3.7%		-0.7%	2.2%	-4.4%	-1.7%
100 to 249	54.50	7.68	13.7%	2.8%		-0.6%	1.5%	-4.7%	-4.7%
250 to 499	53.26	8.16	14.9%	2.2%		-0.7%	1.1%	-3.3%	-2.5%
500 to 999	52.50	8.55	17.1%	2.5%		-1.3%	1.7%	-3.3%	-0.2%
1,000 and more	34.02	7.89	16.8%	2.4%		0.1%	7.0%	-3.3%	-1.9%

 

	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
Industry group
Agriculture	63.04	5.63	8.21%	4.96%		-0.74%	3%	-6%	-3%
Forestry	65.81	3.82	8.33%	2.89%		-0.60%	4%	-3%	-6%
Mining	60.41	5.07	8.22%	0.82%		-1.16%	3%	-5%	-11%
Construction	55.40	10.46	21.12%	9.87%		-0.92%	3%	-4%	-1%
Manufacturing	55.78	8.91	14.48%	4.07%		-0.99%	3%	-3%	-3%
Transportation	52.89	8.29	14.51%	6.16%		-1.51%	4%	-1%	-3%
Communications	49.30	10.12	15.18%	8.39%		-3.30%	6%	-5%	-1%
Utilities	69.61	5.20	15.17%	2.64%		-0.40%	4%	-6%	-17%
Wholesale trade	55.99	7.97	11.73%	3.10%		-1.39%	4%	-4%	-5%
Retail trade	51.85	8.32	16.04%	6.24%		-2.03%	5%	-2%	1%
Finance	49.31	9.61	12.95%	8.22%		-3.63%	8%	-4%	-3%
Insurance	58.62	6.55	8.41%	6.09%		-2.44%	5%	2%	4%
Real estate	56.00	6.89	4.32%	3.11%		-1.80%	4%	-3%	-1%
Hospitality	52.02	7.17	5.44%	1.90%		-1.70%	3%	-10%	-8%
Business services	54.12	9.25	14.79%	8.43%		-2.20%	5%	-3%	-2%
Health services	60.60	5.01	10.73%	4.15%		-1.68%	5%	-2%	0%
Legal services	55.78	7.04	13.18%	9.46%		-2.48%	5%	-3%	-1%
Educational services	61.31	5.81	10.41%	5.49%		-1.36%	5%	-2%	1%
Public administration	61.17	5.19	12.96%	4.31%		-1.65%	4%	-6%	-4%

 

	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
Region
Mid-Atlantic	60.39	5.46	12.3%	5.0%		-0.8%	4%	-2%	3%
Midwest	59.93	6.70	15.6%	7.2%		-0.7%	4%	-1%	-1%
Mountain	58.84	9.66	8.4%	4.3%		-0.6%	4%	-10%	-8%
New England	61.30	4.81	10.1%	4.0%		-0.3%	3%	-3%	2%
Northeast	55.14	4.66	13.5%	5.6%		-0.5%	3%	-1%	2%
Northwest	60.38	8.11	12.0%	5.1%		-1.0%	4%	-4%	-2%
Plains	61.81	6.05	11.3%	4.0%		-0.5%	5%	-4%	-1%
South Central	58.07	5.67	10.2%	3.7%		-0.8%	4%	-7%	-5%
Southeast	56.06	7.09	12.3%	6.0%		-1.3%	4%	-2%	0%
Southwest	56.87	6.39	9.2%	5.1%		-1.7%	6%	-7%	-3%

 

To download previous reports or to see a visual representation of this data and other information broken down by state in an interactive map, visit http://www.BusinessCreditFacts.com/map.

Costa Mesa , Calif. , May 20, 2010 — 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).

 

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.

April 2010					Six-month change
	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
National average	58.15	6.24	11.5%	5.2%		-0.9%	4%	-1%	1%
Number of employees
Nonemployer	60.44	5.47	7.3%	4.7%		-0.3%	3.3%	-4.2%	0.4%
1 to 4	56.29	6.75	13.1%	7.8%		-2.0%	4.3%	-0.6%	2.0%
5 to 9	54.05	8.01	13.9%	7.5%		-1.8%	3.4%	0.2%	4.7%
10 to 19	53.34	8.25	13.8%	6.0%		-1.5%	3.3%	-1.9%	1.6%
20 to 49	54.51	7.98	13.1%	4.6%		-1.2%	2.8%	-1.5%	3.0%
50 to 99	55.08	7.46	13.6%	3.6%		-1.0%	2.1%	-2.5%	-0.8%
100 to 249	53.27	7.67	13.8%	2.6%		-0.9%	1.6%	-2.7%	-6.2%
250 to 499	51.86	8.01	15.3%	2.2%		-1.2%	0.8%	1.0%	2.9%
500 to 999	50.95	8.42	16.8%	1.8%		-1.9%	1.7%	-2.0%	-7.1%
1,000 and over	37.43	7.59	18.0%	2.4%		1.8%	6.6%	-1.1%	0.7%

 

	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
Industry group
Agriculture	62.77	5.59	8.15%	5.30%		-0.93%	3%	0%	7%
Forestry	64.62	3.73	7.72%	2.85%		-1.00%	3%	-22%	-35%
Mining	59.54	5.04	8.03%	1.18%		-1.37%	2%	6%	5%
Construction	54.93	10.31	20.88%	9.86%		-1.14%	2%	-2%	2%
Manufacturing	55.25	8.76	14.87%	3.97%		-1.16%	3%	-1%	-1%
Transportation	51.89	8.12	14.43%	6.21%		-1.83%	3%	3%	3%
Communications	48.89	9.97	16.32%	8.33%		-3.06%	5%	-2%	2%
Utilities	68.48	5.10	15.33%	2.68%		-0.69%	4%	-2%	-13%
Wholesale trade	55.68	7.82	11.81%	3.31%		-1.42%	3%	-2%	-1%
Retail trade	51.57	8.22	16.31%	5.68%		-2.02%	4%	0%	1%
Finance	49.12	9.08	12.94%	7.86%		-3.34%	6%	-4%	1%
Insurance	58.04	6.31	8.82%	6.21%		-2.46%	4%	3%	10%
Real estate	55.35	6.70	4.56%	3.01%		-1.98%	4%	-2%	0%
Hospitality	51.63	7.04	5.41%	1.88%		-1.75%	2%	0%	3%
Business services	53.74	9.02	14.64%	8.16%		-2.26%	5%	0%	1%
Health services	60.03	4.90	11.18%	4.06%		-1.80%	4%	0%	2%
Legal services	55.24	6.85	13.03%	9.24%		-2.55%	5%	-1%	2%
Educational services	60.50	5.61	10.26%	5.43%		-1.57%	4%	0%	4%
Public admin.	59.50	5.07	13.18%	4.86%		-1.97%	3%	0%	3%

 

	Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+		Risk score	Average DBT	Percent $ delinquent	Percent $ 91+
Region
Mid-Atlantic	60.19	5.40	12.4%	5.0%		-0.9%	4%	-1%	1%
Midwest	59.80	6.54	15.6%	7.0%		-0.6%	4%	0%	0%
Mountain	58.53	9.44	8.1%	4.1%		-0.7%	3%	1%	3%
New England	61.31	4.82	10.4%	3.9%		-0.3%	4%	-2%	2%
Northeast	55.43	4.66	13.5%	5.4%		-0.5%	3%	0%	2%
Northwest	60.25	7.94	12.0%	5.1%		-1.1%	3%	-2%	1%
Plains	61.84	5.86	11.6%	4.0%		-0.5%	5%	-2%	1%
South Central	58.01	5.52	10.1%	3.8%		-0.9%	3%	0%	1%
Southeast	56.17	6.88	12.5%	5.9%		-1.1%	3%	-1%	1%
Southwest	56.62	6.27	9.1%	5.1%		-1.7%	5%	-1%	2%

 

To download previous reports or to see a visual representation of this data and other information broken down by state in an interactive map, visit http://www.BusinessCreditFacts.com/map.