One in five Dutch companies is suffering heavily from the current corona crisis

Graydon Covid-19 analysis: Financially healthy companies are also experiencing a serious impact

Almost 1 in 5 Dutch companies is affected above average by the current corona measures. This is evident from an initial calculation by business information specialist Graydon based on the financial health of the Dutch business community and the current economic situation. Of all companies that were still classified as financially healthy in February 2020, 16.5 percent are now in difficulties.

“The damage to business is significant and the figures are sad,” says Mandy Stevens of Graydon Netherlands. “We are not used to having to publish these types of figures.” Currently, 622,780 companies are in the danger zone due to the current corona crisis, or one company in five. “The consequences are dramatic, especially given the interconnectedness of our economy.” Yet there are also companies that are currently experiencing little to no impact from this crisis. “Two out of five companies are still able to continue trading under these circumstances. In the long term, however, it is expected that the impact will also increase on these companies.”

Data analysts from Graydon provided insight into the financial health of companies before the start of the first government measures and the extent of the impact they experience. “Of course, financially healthy companies have more capacity to weather this situation, yet you see that almost seven percent of these companies are now in dire straits,” explains Mandy Stevens, commercial director of Graydon Netherlands.

Three quarters of the catering companies were hit hard

Of all sectors, the hospitality industry is currently being hit the hardest. 73 percent of all catering companies are hit above average. “This is mainly due to the closure of food and beverage outlets until at least April 28. A large part of them has an above-average impact, so the question is whether they will survive in the long term," says Stevens. The Transport & Logistics sector is also having a hard time. There, 39 percent of companies are seriously affected. Graydon also sees that the measures also have a major impact on the Culture, sports and recreation sector (38%) and Other services (37%), including hairdressers and beauty salons. However, there are also sectors where the measures appear to have a lesser impact for the time being, such as Mining and Mining, Agriculture and Fisheries and (semi-)Government.

New calculation model in times of crisis

For this research, Graydon used a new model that measures the impact of the emergency measures against the coronavirus. The calculation of financial health needs to be supplemented in these exceptional times because the 'traditional' parameters such as profit and solvency are based on a continuing economy. Now that sectors have been forcibly halted and companies are often no longer able to perform optimally due to mandatory working from home, the impact that the virus has on the individual company is being examined. For this purpose, sector characteristics, payment behavior, the (international) relationship network, the size of companies and current data from the RIVM are used. In the near future, the model will be further supplemented so that an increasingly detailed picture can be provided of the impact of the corona crisis on business. With the current model, Graydon shows which companies can best be helped at the moment and where support measures can be taken. 

FHI has a cooperation agreement with Graydon:
FHI members can participate at favorable rates and conditions use of various Graydon services. These services have been developed in close collaboration with our partners and tailored to the needs of the various technology sectors.

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