In the first quarter of 2014, corporate bankruptcies increased by 4,6% year-on-year, to 3.811. This is certified by the data released by Cerved. The number of bankrupt companies has hit a new record, even as other kinds of business closures have slowed.
Between January and March, there were a total of 23 company closures, for a decrease of 3,5% on an annual basis. Offsetting the continuous increase in bankruptcies is the decrease in voluntary liquidations (down by 5%), and in non-bankruptcy proceedings (-1,4%). Also in the light of the corrections made to the matter by the "decree of doing", recourse to the pre-agreement with creditors was significantly reduced: in the first three months there were around 800 applications, down by 48% on an annual basis.
Territorially, bankruptcies alone grew in all areas except the North-East, where in the previous four quarters the growth in bankruptcies had been much higher than in the rest of Italy. In the first quarter of 2014, it was mainly the companies in the Center that suffered, with an increase of 10,3%.
Among the sectors, the hardest hit by bankruptcies is services, with an increase of 7,3%, followed by construction, up 6,3%.
