The Banque de France rating is an assessment of a company's ability to honor its financial commitments over horizons ranging from 1 to 3 years. This year, the exercise will be particularly difficult as companies are just emerging from the crisis.
A rating that conditions access to financing
Every year, Banque de France analysts study the accounting and financial data of companies with a level of activity in excess of €750,000, based on descriptive data on their business and capital, financial and accounting information (sales, amount of bank loans, etc.), and judicial information.
The analysts also take into account qualitative and forward-looking information provided by company managers.
The Banque de France quotation is composed of :
- a letter grade representing the company's level of activity,
- a credit rating that places the company on a 13-position credit risk scale, expressed as a number.
Credit ratings are based on :
- an examination of the company's financial situation and its foreseeable development,
- assessment of its economic environment,
- close commercial or economic relations with other companies,
- the existence of payment incidents or legal proceedings.
The 2021 edition of the quotations is a special one, as it follows a long phase of confinement that has impacted business activity.
For Banque de France analysts, the current period is crucial: "Many companies close their accounts on December 31, and we receive their tax returns from April onwards," explains Samuel Coutant, deputy director of social balance sheet analysis and quotation at Banque de France, in the columns of Les Echos newspaper.
The rating given by the institution is important because it enables companies to access financing.
A clearer picture of the company's situation
While banks consider that most companies have managed to get through the crisis without damage, difficulties are concentrated in certain sectors such as aeronautics, catering, hotels, tourism and events. On April 14, the French Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, announced the creation of a "consultation and conciliation mechanism" to support companies hardest hit by the crisis. The aim is to give the most vulnerable players the opportunity to spread out or write off part of their debts. The Banque de France's notes will provide a clearer picture of their situation.
So, while the balance sheets presented to Banque de France analysts during the first confinement were quite good, this year the trend could change. " The 2020 balance sheets are inevitably marked by the crisis, but the outlook is much brighter," says Samuel Coutant.