MORE THAN 38,000 Irish companies are at a high risk of failure, while firms that have gone into liquidation this year have left more than €1 billion in unpaid debt, according to the business information website, Vision-Net.ie.

A study of about 100,000 companies has shown that 36 per cent are considered to run a high risk of failure, while 17 per cent are thought to be medium risk and 47 per cent are considered low risk. Some 1,123 companies that went into liquidation this year have left behind some €1.045 billion of unpaid debt.

The online business found a significant number of companies in the hospitality and restaurant sector had moved into the high-risk category.

Companies set up in the last decade face the greatest trading risk, the website found, while one-third of businesses fail between October and December.

“Our findings show the stark reality of what is happening in the real economy,” said Christine Cullen, managing director of Vision-Net.ie. “Our risk model is signalling that over 38,000 companies who appear to be normal are in fact in trouble. These companies are highly likely to be unable to meet their trading and financial commitments.”

Ms Cullen said that suppliers who were owed money by failed companies were “now left battling it out at creditors’ meetings fighting for a share”.

“If they are lucky, the likelihood is that they will only receive a small fraction of the money which is owed to them,” she said.

The company, which allows customers to view Companies Registration Office documents on its website, claimed that it had predicted eight out of 10 company liquidations.

A spokesman for the company said the firm based its financial analysis on company accounts, details provided at creditors’ meetings as well as information submitted in court filings and from the Central Statistics Office.