Our customer is a long-established manufacturer of winter sports equipment in Switzerland. It specialises in high-quality ski and snowboard equipment for demanding snow sports enthusiasts. The products are marketed by renowned winter sportspeople from the ski and snowboard scene.
Since 2012, the company has relied on the multifarious benefits of A.B.S. Full Service Factoring to sell its products around the world. “Given the considerable seasonal fluctuations in the winter sports sector – where 75 percent of sales are generated between July and September – we need to plan our financing flows precisely,” explains the head of the finance division of our client.

Factoring as additional financing

The winter sport company is active around the world, selling equipment on all the major winter sport markets of Asia, Australia and Europe as well as North America, where the company also has a subsidiary. For financing, the company makes recourse to various tools. In addition to credit financing through its principal bank, the company makes use of A.B.S. Full-Service Factoring, especially for its expansion into foreign markets.

Instant liquidity from outstanding receivables

As a result, our client receives 90 percent of the invoice amount from its open accounts receivable within 24 hours. The long payment terms favoured by many wholesalers engaged in international trade can be granted easily. Thanks to A.B.S. Full-Service Factoring, the company also benefits from prior creditworthiness checks on buyers as well as comprehensive protection against bad debt losses. This is particularly valuable in the case of expansion into new markets, as information on local business partners will be scarce at first.

Successful course of expansion

So far, A.B.S. Full-Service Factoring has effectively supported the global growth strategy of our client: turnover has almost doubled since 2012, with exports making the majority of sales. Aside from instantly usable liquidity, factoring assists the company by taking over receivables management. “The effective and professional dunning process by A.B.S. Factoring AG has been helpful in dealing with slow-paying debtors,” confirms the head of finance.

Despite the outsourcing of the receivables management, our client is able to retain an overview of its outstanding receivables. The online portal of A.B.S. Factoring AG ensures responsible staff can view the maturity structure of individual debtors at any time. Daily extracts via email provide additional information. As the head of finance concludes, “We really value personal contact with the account manager, who coordinates advisory and operational services and keeps abreast of all processes.”