Report: Number of firms collapsing drops a third in 12 months

The number of businesses collapsing this month is down by 32% compared to the same month last year, according to business and credit risk analyst Vision-net.

This continue the positive trend from last month where a 21% drop in the number of businesses collapsing from the previous year was recorded.

Vision-net’s figures, covering the period between February 1 and 25, show that 140 businesses collapsed, a 32% decrease on the same period in 2012.

Of those, 99 were liquidated, 39 entered receivership and an examiner was appointed to two companies.

A county-by-county breakdown of the figures for this month shows that Dublin accounted for 44% of all insolvencies, with Cork and Kildare, between them, recording a further 18% of insolvencies - 10% and 8% respectively.

In all, 95 companies held meetings of creditors showing short-term debts of almost €21m.

Vision-net’s figures recorded 3,418 company and business start-ups this month, up 7% on the same period in 2012, showing an average of 136 start-ups per day.

Of these, 2,277 were registered business names while 1,141 new companies were incorporated.

In the hospitality sector, more than two-thirds of companies were deemed high risk while, in construction, 58% of firms were in danger of collapse.

Vision-net’s figures for January show that 554 registered commercial and consumer judgments worth €29.4m were awarded in the courts.

396 judgments worth €26.4m were awarded against consumers in January, an average of more than €66,661 per judgment.

This is a 33% drop on the average awarded per consumer judgment in December 2012 which stood at just over €101,000.

Christine Cullen, Managing Director of Vision-net, said February’s figures are encouraging.

She said: "Our figures for this month continue to support the possibility of recovery in the domestic economy. Businesses should take these figures as an incentive to continue using smart business practices such as detailed research into their marketplace."