Significant increase in corporate insolvencies in the first quarter

In the case of the insolvency proceedings opened, the Alpine Association of Creditors (AKV) recorded an increase of 37.12 percent in its statistics with 809 cases. This means that the procedures in the first quarter of the pre-corona year 2019 were exceeded by 4.52 percent. And with 643 cases, the number of dismissal decisions increased by 35.94 percent. In its statistics, the AKV found it problematic that 6 out of 10 insolvency proceedings are not applied for by the companies themselves, but by creditors. On a positive note, however, the total liabilities only increased by 3.03 percent to EUR 431.59 million, despite the significant increase in the number of procedures.

In the 1st quarter, 702 company insolvencies were already settled. In 29.34 percent of the cases there was a reorganization plan, in 6.70 percent of the cases there was a payment plan after the company was closed. Accordingly, the debt relief proposals were accepted in a third of the cases. On the other hand, 219 proceedings (31.20 percent) ended with a total loss for the creditors.

With liabilities of EUR 54.8 million, the AKV lists WT Invest as the largest insolvency by liabilities. Pharmazeutische Fabrik Montavit posted liabilities of EUR 45 million. However, the restructuring process is still pending and the registration deadline is still open. With EUR 20.45 million in liabilities, RTi Austria was the third largest insolvency.

The number of jobs threatened by insolvency has risen sharply: According to this, 2,831 employees were affected in the first quarter – this corresponds to an increase of 1,027 jobs or 56.93 percent.

Biggest plus in Carinthia

In the case of company insolvencies, there were only declines in Vorarlberg (-26.32 percent) and Tyrol (-10.20 percent). With 37 opened procedures, Carinthia has the largest increase with 68.18 percent, followed by Salzburg with 62 cases (58.97 percent) and Styria with 109 procedures (57.97 percent).

For the year as a whole, the AKV expects 3,300 insolvency proceedings and 2,200 dismissals to be dismissed, with a total of 5,500 insolvencies for the year as a whole.

Things went better for personal bankruptcies, which only increased by 4.58 percent overall: with 2,170 proceedings opened, there was only an increase of 2.46 percent. 252 cases (31.25 percent) were rejected. Total liabilities from private insolvencies fell from EUR 263.6 million to EUR 228.4 million. However, the average level of debt is interesting: for men it was 126,900 euros, for women it was only 73,000 euros. The AKV does not anticipate a significant increase in personal insolvencies in the current year.