Bell Microproducts has had its cover withdrawn in Europe

 

By Paul Kunert

 

28 July 2008

 

by credit insurer Euler Hermes as players in the indemnity market look to cut their exposure across all sectors.

 

As revealed exclusively last month, Euler and Atradius have seen a significant rise in the number of claims they are paying out and will raise credit insurance premiums as a result.

 

This nervousness has led Euler to put limits on Bell Microproducts, the distributor confirmed, though it was not aware of what triggered the move.

 

"Euler was providing a low level of cover for us that formed a small fraction of our total vendors' credit lines," said Graeme Watt, president of worldwide distribution at Bell Micro-products.

 

The vast majority of partners will br unaffected by the change, Watt said. "It is not expected to have a material impact on our business."

 

But he admitted, "I don't know all of the vendors that are affected as those that take out insurance cover are entitled to confidentiality."

 

Bell's preliminary results for the second quarter, which were released last week, showed a three per cent increase in revenues to between $960m and $970m.

 

 Watt said, "Day to day business in Europe continues to operate totally normally and we have just completed our strongest Q2 profit performance for several years."