Debtor finance market weakens in March quarter

The debtor finance market suffered a substantial fall in turnover in the March quarter.

The Debtor and Invoice Finance Association reported that sector turnover in the March quarter was A$15.3 billion - down 11 per cent from turnover of $17.2 billion in the December quarter.

However, turnover was 1.9 per cent higher than the same quarter last year.

Invoice discounting, where the seller of the trade debts retains the accounting and debt collection functions, accounted for the bulk of the turnover. Invoice discounting turnover in the March quarter was $14.1 billion - down from $15.8 billion in the previous quarter.

Factoring, where the finance company takes over the accounting and debt collection, accounted for $1.2 billion of turnover - down from $1.3 billion in the December.

The number of clients, which has been declining steadily over the past few years, picked up a little in the March quarter - increasing from 4441 in the December quarter to 4472 in March.