Annual Report 2008 English [PDF, 2.69 MB] - Tessenderlo Group

financial report 2008
The difference between the amount covered and the amount in position is due to a mismatching between
the recording and the value date of the operations. Coverage of exposure is done on a continuous basis.
Credit risk
The Group is high risk averse. In its strategy to increase shareholder value, the Group aims at a dynamic
corporate portfolio management to develop confidently new markets: corporate exposure, asset quality,
portfolio diversification are considered together with the maximisation of market shares, which requires
efficient processes, cost effective payment default protection and CRM good practices.
The international financial and economic crisis results in a deep crisis of confidence. The Group focuses
especially on its stable relationships with long term partners. Special and legitimate attention is given to
new relationships, for which, if necessary, secured payment methods are used.
A Corporate Credit Procedure, a quick and consistent credit decision process, appropriate payment
terms, an efficient collection tool and an accurate risk mitigation tool are used to accelerate the cash
flow, to minimize bad debts and to increase sales.
An in-house scoring model aims at defining, with the use of sector-based benchmarks, the portfolio
in term of risks through an analysis of performance indicators and the financial structure. When a
risk cannot be assessed or when it is too high, the Group resorts to credit insurance or other forms of
guarantees.
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At 31 December 2008, no significant concentrations of credit risk existed. The liquidities available at the
end of the year are deposited at very short term at local ranking banks.
The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date was:
2008 2007
Trade receivables 402.4 378.7
Gross trade receivables 416.9 391.8
Amounts written off -14.5 -13.1
Other receivables 60.3 49.4
Receivables from related parties 9.1 0.3
Assets related to employee benefit schemes 14.5 10.2
Derivative financial instruments 5.4 1.9
Cash & cash equivalents 53.5 93.6
Total 545.2 534.1
The maximum exposure to credit risk for trade receivables at the reporting date by business group was
(see also note 16):
2008 2007
Chemicals 181.8 152.2
Specialities 105.1 93.1
Plastics Converting 112.8 132.1
Unallocated 2.7 1.6
Total 402.4 379.0