The index showed that external administrations dipped from March to April due to seasonality but were now up 35 per cent on last year.
Court actions also dropped in March due to seasonality, but were now up 50 per cent year-on-year.
Credit enquiries had increased 85 per cent year-on-year as businesses become more nervous about the health of their trading partners and tightened credit policies.
Business to busines trade payment defaults were 31 per cent year-on-year with Food and Beverage services the number one ranked industry for probability of default by a considerable margin.
It also showed that the rate of external administrations in the construction industry continued to trend upwards – sitting at their highest point since June 2020 while the rate of external administrations in the Healthcare and Social Assistance sector, while still low, had more than doubled over the past 12 months.
CreditorWatch chief executive Patrick Coghlan said pressures were mounting on businesses across almost all industries.
“Our Business Risk Index data is showing a clear upward trend in the rate of external administrations across almost all sectors, with mining being one of the few exceptions,” he said.
“With economic conditions forecast to decline further, we encourage all businesses to perform proper due diligence on their trading partners and monitor them on an ongoing basis to ensure they don’t become an unfortunate statistic.”
Among the best regions nationally were Townsville and Cairns while Southport and Surfers Paradise were among the worst.
The industries with the highest probability of default over the next 12 months are:
- Food and Beverage Services: 7.10%
- Arts and Recreation Services: 4.59%
- Transport, Postal and Warehousing: 4.59%
The industries with the lowest probability of default over the next 12 months are:
- Health Care and Social Assistance: 3.25%
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing: 3.51%
- Wholesale Trade: 3.56%
Source: CreditorWatch risk score credit rating average probability of default by industry. Default defined as external administration, strike-off or deregistration in the next 12 months
