Australian Mercantile Collections

Let's Talk

Category: Articles of Interest

The ominous shadow of global debt | Expert Views

The clouds of a potential debt crisis are threatening to cast an ominous shadow over the global economic landscape. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Fiscal Monitor (April 2024) has flagged grave concerns. Even four years past the Covid-19 outbreak, fiscal deficits and debts remain elevated worldwide compared to pre-pandemic projections.  The IMF’s latest Global […]

NSW’s automated debt collection ‘defective’ years after fix

Machine learning-supported debt collection in New South Wales was defective for several years after changes were made to a previously unlawful version of the system, according to the state’s ombudsman. The latest report from the NSW Ombudsman, which has been scrutinising the state government’s garnishee order (GO) system since 2016, found that Revenue NSW had […]

NAB holding $55m debt in struggling dairy firm Beston

Beston Global Food Company’s debt has blown out to almost $70m, with the dairy company, which has never turned a profit, owing NAB alone more than $55m. The South Australian dairy and meat producer – which is currently in talks to sell its loss-making meat division – said in its quarterly released late Tuesday that […]

These 4 Measures Indicate That Trent (NSE:TRENT) Is Using Debt Reasonably Well

Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, ‘The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about… and every practical investor I know worries about.’ It’s only natural to consider a company’s balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often […]

Critical findings against NSW Revenue clawing back of state money

The historical Revenue NSW debt-recovery system that was allowed to run for several years in different forms has been described as maladministration in a NSW ombud report published this week. The state watchdog found that between March 2018 and March 2019, the NSW garnishee orders (GO) system did not comply with the state’s own laws. […]

Cost-of-living squeeze: More than 460,000 Kiwis behind on debt payments

The number of Kiwis behind on their debt repayments remains high as people wrestle with rising inflation and a cost-of-living squeeze. Credit company’s Centrix’s April Credit Indicator report showed consumer arrears climbed to 463,000 in March, up 6000 month-on-month. This equals 12.7 per cent of the credit active population and is 7.4 per cent higher […]

Sterling Caviar enters receivership due to USD 23 million debt

Elverta, California, U.S.A.-based Sterling Caviar has entered receivership, with creditors claiming the company owes them more than USD 23 million (EUR 21.5 million). The company, which was purchased by Eugene Fernandez in October 2020 for USD 6.2 million (EUR 5.8 million) from Stolt-Nielsen via his holding company Hyde Road Agricultural Associates, received a USD 14 million […]

Is Imerys (EPA:NK) Using Too Much Debt?

Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, ‘The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.’ So it seems the smart money knows that debt – which is usually involved in bankruptcies – is a very important factor, when you […]

Collection agency data breach affects millions of users

An American debt collection agency suffered a data breach in late February, losing sensitive data belonging to almost two million people. Earlier this week, Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS) sent a data breach notification letter to affected customers, explaining that unauthorized third parties accessed its systems on February 14, 2024, and remained there until […]