New Dun & Bradstreet Analysis: Less than 10 Percent of Companies Are Among the Best, Most of Them in Međimurje County

This year, slightly less than one-tenth of all business entities in Croatia are among the creditworthy excellent companies. The largest share of them is located in Međimurje County, and depending on the activity, the highest share of ‘excellent’ companies is in activity M: Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities. Such companies enjoy a high reputation among business partners, which is particularly important in times of general economic uncertainty.

Excellent companies are a role model for others

Due to the turbulent events of recent years, it is particularly difficult to find reliable and stable business partners. The best companies are characterized by exceptional payment discipline and good business relationships, while simultaneously achieving excellent business results and ensuring the satisfaction of all involved in the work processes. As such, they serve as a role model for other companies and enjoy a high reputation in the market. Companies that achieve above-average business quality express their reputation through the creditworthiness excellence certificate awarded by Dun & Bradstreet. The certificate confirms, both in the domestic and international markets, that the recipient is a reliable, stable company with which it is safe to do business. It helps in acquiring new customers and suppliers, thus contributing to writing new success stories. For many companies, this is also a reward for years of effort, as well as motivation for further development, improvement, and progress.

In addition to the certificate, companies in D&B solutions receive essential information about more than 500 million organizations worldwide, enabling them to make optimal decisions.

—

Frank Wenz, Dun & Bradstreet

—- Financial data is among the most important data assets for our clients as it helps them assess the risks and potential of their business partners. Along with top-notch data, legal events, insights into ownership and payments, D&B provides an accurate and timely picture of how companies start, grow, mature, and ultimately fail – said Frank Wenz, Regional Data Director for Central Europe at Dun & Bradstreet.

Only 9.88 percent are creditworthy excellent

This year, less than 10 percent of companies in our country can boast above-average business quality.

According to the Dun & Bradstreet analysis (July 2023), 9.88 percent of Croatian companies achieve creditworthiness excellence – that is 28,103 companies out of 284,425 registered. Of these, 5.4 percent belong to the highest classes of companies that have achieved creditworthiness excellence standards for three consecutive years, which is 0.2 percent more than last year. Silver excellence is achieved by 3.7 percent of companies, Gold excellence by 0.5 percent, and Platinum excellence by 1.2 percent. In the highest class (AAA) in 2023, 0.8 percent of companies were included, in the higher class (AA) just over one percent (1.1), and in the high class (A) 2.6 percent. Companies that achieve creditworthiness excellence with the obtained certificate enter the club of Croatian ‘excellent companies’ and thus secure a competitive advantage in the market.

The largest share of ‘excellent’ companies is in Međimurje County

Among the business entities that meet the standards of creditworthiness excellence this year, in terms of organizational form, there are the most commercial companies (93 percent of all certified companies), and among them, limited liability companies prevail (24,294 companies). Three-quarters of this year’s ‘excellent’ companies have up to one million in revenue, slightly less than one-fifth between one million and 5.9 million, and a good percentage of companies exceed 36.5 million in revenue. The latter generally achieve Platinum excellence standards, while most companies with less than one million in revenue fall into the Silver excellence class.

The largest number of creditworthy excellent companies, approximately one-third, comes from the City of Zagreb region (9,530, or 33.9 percent of all companies), and in terms of share within each region, the highest number of ‘excellent’ companies is in Međimurje County (14.7 percent). This is followed by Bjelovar-Bilogora County (12.1 percent), then Varaždin and Zagreb Counties (both at 11.9 percent), and the City of Zagreb (11.7 percent). More than half of the companies showing creditworthiness excellence according to the Dun & Bradstreet analysis come from these regions.

According to the standard classification of activities, the largest number of companies achieving creditworthiness excellence comes from activity M: Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (7,378, or 26.3 percent of all companies). This is followed by G: Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (5,613, 20.0 percent) and C: Manufacturing (3,979, 14.2 percent). Within each activity, the highest share of ‘excellent’ companies is in Q: Health Care and Social Work Activities (21.4 percent of all companies in the activity).

Quality data helps increase business resilience in times of crisis

Slightly more than a quarter (27 percent) of decision-makers believe that their companies are ‘extremely resilient’ in the current turbulent times, while 62 percent of companies believe they are only ‘partially resilient’ to crisis situations, as determined by Dun & Bradstreet. Since the end of economic uncertainty is currently impossible to predict, most companies will need to raise their business resilience to the highest possible level when facing crisis situations. Companies do not have a direct impact on the risks that are currently present, so they need to rely on quality data and analyses when making decisions and to strengthen their market position with the creditworthiness excellence certificate.

– The data in D&B solutions is obtained from official sources, and the quality is controlled and improved through analytical measurements – explains Wenz.

– Data is continuously measured along the supply chain of information. This creates top quality and makes us unique in the market – adds Wenz.

Check if you belong among the best Croatian companies