The project's sole customer, a state-owned utility, defaulted on payments saying the power cost was too high.

After discounting that figure to account for the risk its customer would default and the fact that it would not receive most payments for years, Enron would book the profit immediately.

Lucent shares went from $64 to $1 as its customers defaulted and tried to unload what they had bought.

Those customers who are poor credit risks will default in huge numbers as the economy continues to cool down, he said.

With more money in their wallets, fewer customers were defaulting on card payments or not paying their bills on time.

Apart from the chance that the customer may default on his payments (perhaps even go bankrupt), there is the risk that he may also sell, damage or even destroy the goods.

The company took a $3.2 million charge to cover losses incurred when a major customer defaulted on its monthly payments.

The strategy backfired when many customers defaulted.

Condition 8 of the bank's standard loan contract allowed the bank to get its standard interest rate after a judgment on repayment when a customer defaulted.

The company's American operations have been posting huge losses, in part because its strategy of increasing sales by offering easy credit terms to young buyers backfired when many customers defaulted on their car loans.