24% of world's large companies risk running out of cash

If sales drop 30% for the next 6 months, data shows

Financial markets have been jittering since the outbreak of the pandemic.

TSUKASA MORIKUNI, TOKIO MURAKAMI and KENTA SHINOZAKI, Nikkei staff writers

April 14, 2020 03:27 JST

TOKYO/LONDON -- The coronavirus pandemic has battered the global economy, sending cash flows plunging and drying up liquidity for small and midsize enterprises. Now, large companies have been threatened with the same, making it imperative that governments step up support for these bedrock companies lest they suffer the same fate as their smaller counterparts.

Using data from QUICK-FactSet, the Nikkei Asian Review calculated the cash flows of over 3,400 listed companies and discovered that a quarter of them will run out of liquidity if a 30% year-on-year drop in sales lasts for six months.