Paris (awp/afp) – Business insolvencies in France, the number of which has been abnormally low since the start of the health crisis, began to rebound at the end of 2021, according to figures published Monday by the firm Altares, which forecasts an increase for 2022.
If the defaults were in 2021 the least numerous for 35 years, “the progressive disconnection of aid, the difficulties in the supply of raw materials and the soaring prices weaken the cash flow of companies”, estimates the firm which identified the all failures reported to the commercial courts last year.
In December, their number rebounded by 9%, while remaining 36% lower compared to December 2019, before the health crisis.
The situation remained very favorable in 2021 with a 12% decline in insolvencies over one year, but “the end of the year is beginning to return to normal” and the last quarter is “just in balance, with 8,256 open procedures, i.e. 0.6% more compared to the same quarter of 2020”, according to Altares.
For 2022, all sectors combined, “we must fear at least 5,000 to 6,000 more defects”, declared AFP Thierry Million, director of studies at Altares.
Failures – numbering 28,371 in 2021 according to Altares – would however still be far from returning to their level of 2019, when 52,004 companies had defaulted.
The figure of 27,285 failures for 2021 published on Wednesday by the Banque de France was still based on provisional statistics for December, which explains a slight difference, according to Mr. Millon.
By sector, the opening of procedures accelerated in the last quarter of 2021 “in construction (+8.4%) and more specifically in building (+12.9%)”, according to the cabinet press release.
In trade, the general trend remained downward, but insolvencies are on the rise in 2021 for “vehicle trade and repair” (+8.2%). They also progressed in architectural and engineering services (+10.2%).
In the fourth quarter, the number of procedures increased by 5% in business services and defaults were up 10% in personal services.
In industry, the trend was favorable with a 12.5% decrease in failures over the whole of 2021, but it “reverses quickly in the 4th quarter (+6.8%)”, still according to Altares which points to a 15% increase in defects in the transport of goods in the last quarter.
Finally, while the decline in insolvencies remains strong in catering, they started to rise again in accommodation in the fourth quarter (+7%).
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