Insolvencies to slow in 2011

COMPANIES have gone bust at a rate of four a day from January through to September, but we can expect more positive statistics by late 2011, according to one leading accountancy practice.

Some 1,132 companies have gone out of business in the nine months to September 2010, said Ken Fennell, a partner in the KavanaghFennell practice, which compiled the data for the latest InsolvencyJournal.ie report. While these figures are bad, they’re comparable to last year.

Ken Fennell said: “The rate of insolvencies is bad, but it is not an increase. It is the same as last year. There is a bottoming out of the figures. Forty-six construction companies closed in February, 42 in September. The figures haven’t raised, and the number of examinerships are significantly down. The situation is bad, but it is not as bad as it could be. It will be middle to late 2011 before we see the kind of slowdown in the rate that would create any general positive sentiment.”