The zombies are loose: On the danger of undead companies

Currently, many companies that are actually insolvent are being artificially kept alive with aid money – this is how so-called “zombie companies” are born. These undead companies are also a danger for healthy companies if their customers or suppliers unexpectedly disappear due to insolvency.

Regine Hilgers, product owner at Aryza and specialist in the field of credit management, explains in an interview with the German publication “Produktion” that it is now particularly important to always keep an eye on customers. Because conventional methods of identifying companies in financial difficulties, such as the last annual financial statement, are not meaningful in the current situation. Therefore, in order to identify zombies in the portfolio, intuition and the experience of employees with the respective suppliers and customers are now required.

Read the full article in “Produktion” (only available in German) and find out which other indicators companies should look out for in order to recognise zombies: