"The situation is tense"

Company bankruptcies increase significantly in the 1st half of the year

The business sectors of trade, construction, accommodation and gastronomy are particularly often affected by company bankruptcies.

(Bild: APA/Helmut Fohringer)

The difficult economic situation continues to make itself felt in the number of company bankruptcies in Austria. In the first half of 2024, the number of insolvencies is expected to rise by 26 percent to 3308. That equates to 18 company bankruptcies every day. There is a negative record for major insolvencies.

As of today, there would already be 36 major insolvencies with liabilities of over ten million euros. "This has never happened before," writes the KSV1870 creditor protection association.

As a result, provisional liabilities have multiplied - by more than 900 percent to around eleven billion euros. The decisive factor is the continuing wave of insolvencies surrounding Signa and its founder René Benko.

Lack of sales and orders
The growing number of insolvencies is due to a tense business situation, falling sales in many places and a lack of orders.

"Economic pressure is increasing and Austrian companies are having to fight for every euro. The situation is getting worse for more and more companies. It can currently be assumed that the number of corporate insolvencies will remain at a similarly high level in the coming months," explained Karl-Heinz Götze, Head of Insolvency at KSV.

Looking at the first two quarters in isolation, it is clear that the first quarter of the year, with 1,688 cases, was just ahead of the second (1,620 cases). However, the first quarter of 2024 was the most insolvent quarter since 2009.

According to the KSV1870 extrapolation, the main drivers of insolvencies were trade (including maintenance and repair of motor vehicles) with 585 cases and an increase of 21.1 percent, the construction industry with 573 cases (up 26.5 percent) and accommodation and food services with 403 insolvencies (up 15.1 percent).

Decline in Burgenland, growth in Salzburg
The number of private bankruptcies remained at roughly the same level. With 4580 debt settlement proceedings opened, an increase of 0.7 percent was registered compared to the same period last year. The most significant decline was recorded in Burgenland, while the strongest increase was in Salzburg.