- by VisionNet on 31/08/2012
Six Irish companies collapsed each day this month, with more company closures than start-ups so far this year, according to the latest figures from Vision-net, Ireland's leading business and credit risk analyst.
Vision-net's figures, covering the period between August 1 and August 28, show that 165 companies were declared insolvent - down 13% on the same month last year.
Of those, 99 were liquidated, 64 entered receivership, and an examiner was appointed to two companies.
A county by county breakdown shows that Dublin accounted for 42% of all insolvencies in August, with Limerick second highest on 14% and Meath third with 5% of the total. Cork, Galway and Mayo each accounted for 4% of the monthly total.
108 companies had meetings of creditors this month showing short-term debts outstanding of approximately EUR30 million.
Vision-net has also evaluated the number of company start-ups and closures between January and July of this year.
While there have been 8,184 start-ups in the first seven months of 2012, 8,664 companies have closed during the same period, representing a net loss of 480 businesses.
Companies in business and professional services, construction, wholesale and retail, real estate and social and personal services sectors make up 72% of closures this year.
Vision-net's figures for August show that 328 registered commercial and consumer judgments worth EUR34.3 million were awarded in the courts.
Of these, 246 were judgments awarded against consumers worth EUR32.3 million, with credit unions, Revenue Commissioners and banks topping the list of plaintiffs.
The Revenue Commissioners accounted for one third of judgments recorded in the courts this month which had a combined value of EUR3.3 million.
Three judgments worth a combined EUR12.9m were awarded to two companies in the finance sector, while one judgment came to EUR6.9m in favour of a Building Society.
Christine Cullen, Managing Director of Vision-net, said the figures show that companies continue to struggle, with the trend in closures creeping further upward.
"The trading conditions remain very challenging for companies. High levels of unpaid debt and cash flow problems are hampering the capacity of companies to stay in business or scale and this has a knock-on impact on jobs and growth. We are also seeing a rise in the value of judgments and the amounts involved here are notably high."
"Vision-net's advice to companies and consumers is to take a moment to research financial decisions and avail of accurate business intelligence that leads to better decision making," said Ms Cullen.
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