Payment performance of local construction firms improved for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q4 2018, as reported by The Independent.
According to Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB), q-o-q slow payments within the construction sector decreased by 4.05 percentage points, from 47.28 per cent in Q3 2018 to 43.23 per cent in Q4 2018.
Within the sector, building construction saw the largest decrease in slow payments, down by 4.89 percentage points, from 49.07 per cent in Q3 2018 to 44.18 per cent in Q4 2018.
Slow payments within the heavy construction sector fell by 4.06 percentage points, from 48.66 per cent to 44.60 per cent.
Payment delays by special trade contractors decreased by 3.02 percentage points, from 44.61 per cent to 41.59 per cent.
On a y-o-y basis, slow payments fell markedly by 13.60 percentage points, from 56.83 per cent in Q4 2017 to 43.23 per cent in Q4 2018.
This is in contrast to the overall payment performance for the country for the final quarter of 2018. Slow payments accounted for more than one-third of total payment transactions, with a y-o-y increase of 1.10 percentage points, from 36.92 per cent in Q4 2017 to 38.02 per cent in Q4 2018.
Meanwhile, partial payments increased by 5.41 percentage points, from 12.74 per cent in Q3 2018 to 18.15 per cent in Q4 2018. Y-o-y, partial payments rose by 5.47 percentage points, from 12.68 per cent in Q4 2017 to 18.15 per cent in Q4 2018.
D&B Singapore compiles the figures by monitoring more than 1.6 million payment transactions of firms operating through SCCB. Payment data is contributed to the Bureau by local firms.
Prompt payment refers to when 90 per cent or more of total bills are paid within the agreed payment terms. Slow payment refers to when less than 50 per cent of total bills are paid within the agreed terms. Partial payment refers to when between 50 and 90 per cent of total bills are paid within the agreed payment terms. — Construction+ Online
