No. of business bankruptcies drops by 22 to 308 in Sept

Prague, Oct 3 (CTK) - A total of 308 business bankruptcies were declared in the Czech Republic in September, a drop of 22 compared with August which was the worst month in terms of bankruptcy numbers this year, according to an analysis released by company CCB - Czech Credit Bureau.

August was also the worst month in terms of bankruptcy numbers since January 2008 when the insolvency law took effect, CCB said.

The highest number of business bankruptcies was in September registered of services. The number of bankruptcies in the services segment was the highest also in the past 12 months.

"The number of business bankruptcies will at the end of the year be probably higher than the maximum values from the turn of the millennium for the second straight year already," Vera Kamenickova, head of CCB's analytical department, said.

"The share of bankruptcies of self-employed individuals already reached 61 percent of the total number of business bankruptcies in the first nine months of this year. These bankruptcies are raising their total numbers the fastest," Kamenickova said.

The record-high number of business bankruptcies expected for this year can be a result of the amendment to the insolvency law which has again introduced the obligation to file a debtor's insolvency petition if a business is overburdened with debt, Jiri Markvart, a lawyer from law office Ambruz & Dark/Deloitte Legal, said.

Another reason could be the dragging crisis which leads to secondary insolvencies, Markvart said.

The number of filed business bankruptcy petitions dropped by 153 month-on-month to 604 in September.

The number of bankruptcies of legal entities dropped by 3 and the number of bankruptcies of self-employed individuals fell by 19 compared with August.

The highest number of business bankruptcies was declared in Prague and the Moravskoslezsky region in northern Moravia (54 bankruptcies in each region) in September. The lowest number of bankruptcies was registered in the Karlovarsky region, western Bohemia, and in Vysocina, southern Moravia (5 bankruptcies in each region).

The highest number of bankruptcies of legal entities was declared in services (39 cases) in September, while the lowest number was registered in agriculture.

In the past 12 months, the highest number of bankruptcies was reported in services (407) and in trade and hospitality industry (404). However, the number of bankruptcies of legal entities grew the fastest year-on-year in agriculture and the construction industry.

Business bankruptcies:
legal entities self-employed individuals total
January 2011 108 73 181
February 101 56 157
March 140 73 213
April 108 75 183
May 136 92 228
June 119 120 239
July 77 88 165
August 87 134 221
September 99 130 229
October 101 108 209
November 90 148 238
December 98 105 203
January 2012 103 123 226
February 129 156 285
March 133 185 318
April 108 158 266
May 109 184 293
June 125 186 311
July 93 147 240
August 117 213 330
September 114 194 308

source: CCB