Company failures fall by 22% to 812

The number of company failures so far this year is down by more than a fifth on 2012, according to figures released yesterday.

Corporate restructuring specialists Kavanagh Fennell said 812 companies became insolvent during the first seven months.

This was a drop of 22 per cent on the same the period last year, when 1,044 businesses were wound up or went through some form of insolvency procedure.

Total company failures this month stand at 106 compared with 157 in July 2012, a fall of 32 per cent.

Liquidation remained the most common consequence of insolvency, with 609 companies wound up compared with 779 during the same period in 2012.

Of these, 575 were voluntarily wound up and 34 were placed in liquidation by the courts.

Receiverships were also down in the first seven months, with 192 recorded, compared to 249 during the same period in 2012.

Examinerships fell 3 per cent to 11 this year from 16. Kavanagh Fennell expressed disappointment with the continued low numbers of companies taking up the examinership option, which allows businesses a three-month breathing space to come up with a rescue plan.