Factoring companies are not new to the Czech market, having been active since the early '90s. However, experts say that use of this service has not yet reached its full potential.
The joint annual turnover of factoring companies amounts to 80 billion Kc (Ђ2.7bn) and accounts for about 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Czech Republic Association of Factoring Companies (AFS ИR).
In countries such as the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, the number reaches as high as 5 per cent of GDP. At the same time in Austria the service only accounts for 1.2 per cent of GDP and in Slovakia it is only about 1 per cent. The factoring business has been growing by up to 30 per cent a year since 1999, said Jiri Matula, the chairman of AFS ИR.
