SOME 33 companies a week went bust during the first four months of the year as there was a sharp increase in the number of voluntary liquidations and receiverships in March, according to data from website InsolvencyJournal.ie.

Corporate insolvencies totalled 558 for the first four months of the year, an increase of 3 per cent on the same period last year.

There was a 21 per cent increase in voluntary liquidations during March and a 55 per cent in the number of receiverships, according to the statistics, produced by Dublin insolvency accountants Kavanagh Fennell.

The highest number of insolvencies continued to be reported in construction, while the retail and service sectors experienced further high levels of business failures in the four-month period.

Increased enforcement action by the National Asset Management Agency and banks combined with weak consumer sentiment in the retail sector suggests there would be no reduction in insolvencies this year, said Ken Fennell, a partner with Kavanagh Fennell.

There have been 32 insolvencies in the wholesale sector compared with 37 for all of last year.

The firm noted a high volume of receiverships over personal borrowings rather than companies which are not formally registered or reported under Irish law.