BÜRGEL Survey: Corporate insolvencies 2009
11 percent more corporate insolvencies in 2009 / Considerable rise forecast for 2010
In 2009 the number of corporate insolvencies in Germany increased once again: during the year 33,762 companies declared their insolvency. This is 11.08 percent higher than during the previous year and confirms the figure forecast by the financial information agency BÜRGEL who one year ago estimated 34,000 bankruptcies in 2009. Altogether over the last ten years 340,921 corporate insolvencies were registered. According to their current survey “Corporate Insolvencies 2009” the Hamburg company forecasts a further rise to between 37,000 and 40,000 cases for 2010.
During the survey period from January to December 2009, the most corporate insolvencies, when regarded in absolute figures, occurred in North Rhine-Westphalia (7,178), followed by Bavaria (4,267) and Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony (3,423).
In a relative comparison the largest number of insolvent companies comes from Bremen – 146 per 10,000 companies. Also in Saxony-Anhalt (130) and Schleswig-Holstein (120) the figures are among the highest in the country. The lowest number is reported in Hamburg with 58 cases, followed by Bavaria (72) and Baden-Württemberg (78). The average throughout the Federal Republic lies at around 91 insolvencies per 10,000 companies.
In an analysis of the Top 30 cities, Berlin recorded the most corporate insolvencies in 2009: 1,507 cases. This corresponds to a share of 4.46 percent of all corporate insolvencies in Germany. Places two and three were occupied by Hamburg with 992 and Munich with 559 cases. The lowest number of corporate insolvencies occurred in Kiel (91 cases), Chemnitz (176) and Brunswick (116).
In a comparison of the year 2009 with the previous year, the strongest decrease in the number of corporate insolvencies was in Berlin with minus 11.35 percent. Whereas in 2008 1,700 companies in the city had to apply for creditor protection, the following year it was still 1,507 companies. Also on the decline are the insolvency figures in North Rhine-Westphalia with minus 6.44 percent (2008: 7,672 cases; 2009: 1,178). The worst hit by the insolvency trend was Bremen with a plus of 32.53 percent. There 387 companies instituted bankruptcy proceedings during the past year whereas 292 companies had to give up in 2008. Below Bremen in the ranking are Baden-Württemberg with an increase by 32.32 percent (2008: 2,735 cases; 2009: 3,619) and Hesse (plus 29.95 percent).
It is striking from the companies’ structure that 16.55 percent of the companies that became insolvent over the last twelve months had not been active on the market for more than two years.
According to Bürgel the insolvency risk only declines again in the case of old-established companies that have existed on the market for 50 years or longer. With 3.22 percent their share of the insolvency statistics for 2009 is the lowest.
The category of companies that were involved most frequently in insolvency proceedings in 2009 were trades with a proportion of 41.42 percent (13,924 cases), followed by GmbHs (limited liability companies) (30.72 percent; 10,370 cases) and the legal forms GmbH & Co. KG (limited partnerships with a limited liability company as general partner) or GbRs (private partnerships) (9.7 percent; 3,131 cases).
The main reasons for the rise in insolvency figures are still the underlying economic conditions and the lack of liquidity due to decreases in the number of orders received and the restrictive allocation of loans.