The largest listed companies in Sweden are extending their payment times to levels that hit smaller companies hard. A review by Dagens industri using the Factset analysis database shows that the ten largest companies have an average payment time of 66 days, almost twice as long as the smallest companies' average of 37 days.

Investor Electrolux stands out with extreme payment times of 127 days in 2023, followed by telecom operator Telia with 102 days.

Other listed companies highlighted with long payment times are Electrolux Professional, pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca and industrial company ABB with average payment times of around three months.

Telecom giant Ericsson, which has been criticized on several occasions for long payment times in Sweden, had an average of 81 days for the full year 2023, and this has increased to 83 days in the last 12 months.

The forestry and pulp company Stora Enso had an average of 80 days for 2023 and 94 days for the last 12 months.

In total, the accounts payable of the ten largest companies amount to over SEK 500 billion. These are effectively interest-free loans from suppliers, putting financial pressure on smaller companies. Many are being forced to resort to factoring solutions or to inject shareholder capital to manage liquidity.

The EU is now discussing a law to limit payment periods to 30 days, but several member states, including Sweden, are resisting. At the same time, there is a growing demand for regulation to protect small businesses from growing debts.