Profits at Mexico's 16 factoring companies fell 21.5% to 157m pesos (US$13.5m) in 2003 due, in part, to higher administrative costs, according to statistics released by the banking regulator CNBV.
The sector's financial margin widened 28.2% to 688m pesos. Assets grew 31.8% to 12.5bn pesos, while performing loans were up 27.7% at 11.1bn pesos.
Mexico's factoring companies have been helped by the scarcity of credit in the local financial system in recent years as a sluggish economy has made banks hesitant to lend to small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
In January Juan Carlos Salvado, committee coordinator of the Mexican factoring association Amefac, said that sector lending would probably grow 10% to 15% in 2004.
