Access to bank financing for companies - 2024-Q4

Published on the 5th of February 2025

Over 80% of companies report lower or stable credit costs
  • Requests for investment credit have been stable for several quarters for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and increased this quarter for Mid-Size Companies (MSCs). They remain at a very low level for cash flow loans.

  • Credit obtention rates remains high for SMEs and MSCs, but is falling slightly for cash loans

  • The proportion of companies reporting falling overall credit costs continues to rise.
NB: bank credits alone are examined in this survey; some companies also have access to market financing options, which provides them with financing solutions not covered by this survey.

1. Requests for investment loans in % of companies
2. Compagnies obtaining investment loans in % of those having requested this type of credit (fully fulfilled or at least at 75%)
3. Requests for new cash credits in % of companies
4. Compagnies obtaining cash credits in % of those having requested this type of credit (fully fulfilled or at least at 75%)
Data not seasonally adjusted, in %; excluding use of previously granted credit lines
Scope: companies with autonomy to decide on credit applications: SME = 10 - 249 employees; MSC = 250 - 4999 employees


New investment loans
  • The proportion of companies having applied for new investment loans (see graph 1) is stable at 18% in Q4 2024 for SMEs, and rises by 3 points to 25% for MSCs.

  • Obtention rates for these loan applications are very high for both SMEs and MSCs: 97% of SMEs and MSCs having applied for a loan obtained all or more than 75% (see graph 2).
New cash credits
  • The proportion of companies applying for new cash credits (see graph 3) remains steady at a low level for SMEs and 6% for SMBs.

  • Obtention rates for this type of credit remains stable for SMEs, but decreases for MSCs: 83% of SMEs obtained all or more than 75% of their credit, unchanged from the previous quarter, while 93% of MSCs applying for credit obtained full or more than 75%, compared with 96% in the previous quarter (see graph 4).
Complements
1 - Credit lines

For operating needs, SMEs and MSCs can apply (usually at the beginning of the year) for credit lines giving them drawing rights over the year.

  • Requests have been stable for several quarters for all company sizes, with a third of SMEs and almost half of MSCs having made a line request in the last 12 months.

  • These requests are still largely satisfied (fully or more than 75%), in more than 95% of cases for SMEs and SMBs.

  • 55% of SMEs drew on credit lines this quarter, up one point on the previous quarter. 60% of MSCs made use of their credit lines, up 3 points on Q3 2024.

Requests for new credit lines over the last 12 months (in % of companies) and mobilization of credit lines over the last 3 months (in % of companies having been granted new lines)


2- Supply rate for equipment loans

Among investment loans, equipment loans are intended to finance intangible or tangible assets, excluding real estate.

  • Obtention rates for equipment loans remains high for all company sizes: 94% of SMEs and 91% of MSCs which have applied for this type of loan obtained it (fully or more than 75%).
Compagnies obtaining equipment loans in % of those having requested this type of credit (fully fulfilled or at least at 75%)


3- Evolution of the cost of credit
  • In Q4 2024, 81% of SMEs and 85% of MSCs reported that the overall cost of credit remained stable or fell.

  • Compared to the previous quarter, the proportion of companies reporting an increase in the overall cost of credit is down again (by 6 points for SMEs and 11 points for MSCs respectively).

  • Consistently, more companies are reporting a fall in the overall cost of credit this quarter. The proportion of both SMEs and MSCs reporting a fall in the overall cost of credit is now higher than the proportion reporting an increase.
Share of companies reporting an increase or a decrease in the cost of credit (in % of companies)


4- Self-censorship
Self-censorship refers to a situation where a company does not apply for a new bank loan because it anticipates a refusal from the bank.

This quarter, companies' expectations for banks turn down stayed on the fringe; the proportion of companies declaring self-censorship behaviors remained below the 2% threshold.
More information on time series, calendar, methodology

All statistical time series published by the Banque de France can be accessed on Webstat Banque de France

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STAT INFO - 4th quarter 2024

Access to bank financing of companies

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Updated on the 4th of February 2025