The number of company bankruptcies rose to 6,550 this year. The resulting debt is at a historic high of more than 18 billion euros. One reason for this is major bankruptcies such as those of Signa or KTM (see info box). The Credit Protection Association (KSV) 1870 announced this in its projections yesterday.
51,000 creditors (up around 12 percent compared to the previous year) and 30,200 employees (up 27 percent) are affected by the corporate insolvencies – these are also record figures, according to the KSV. The company bankruptcies were “not only due to economic reasons, there were also management errors,” said KSV managing director Ricardo-Jose Vybiral. These could be due to a brief upswing in early summer, which could have been over-interpreted, it was said with regard to KTM. In the overall context, Vybiral warned of a “creeping deindustrialization that we are observing in Austria”. Although most of the bankruptcies this year are in the retail, construction and catering sectors, “the industry is causing great concern”. Sales development is on the decline, with only every second industrial company expected to make a profit this year. According to KSV, the trend towards high case numbers will continue next year. In addition, there are more and more cases (plus 20 percent) that are not even opened due to a lack of assets.
Private bankruptcies remain stable
The number of private bankruptcies remains practically stable at 8,920 (plus 0.8 percent), according to the KSV projection. Per capita debt is increasing, averaging 112,000 euros. Upper Austria is in fourth place among the states. Experts expect up to 9,500 private bankruptcies in 2025.
The biggest bankruptcies in 2024
Fisker GmbH: 3,793 million euros
Rene Benko, entrepreneur: 2,430 million euros
Benko family, private foundation: 2,280 million euros
KTM AG: 1,824 million euros
SIGNA Prime, Beteiligung GmbH: 830 million euros
IMFARR GmbH:H 600 million euros
SIGNA Prime Holding: 500 million euros
SIGNA Development GmbH: 310 million euros
Mariahilfer Straße, Immobilien GmbH: 300 million euros
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Source: Nachrichten
