Insolvencies have indeed started to rise again in 2022, after a two-year hiatus during which companies were kept with their heads above water. According to figures from the Altares group published on Tuesday January 17, 42,500 procedures were opened in 2022, which represents an increase of 49.9% compared to 2021.
If the volume of bankruptcies remains below the low point of a “normal” year, with approximately 50,000 companies in default, the catch-up is rapid. “The pace is more sustained than expected, raising fears of a return to pre-crisis values sooner than expected”believes Thierry Millon, director of studies for the Altares group.
Since 2020, a total of 103,000 companies have defaulted, compared with 162,000 over the previous three years. It is therefore nearly 60,000 failures that have been avoided by public aid, first to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, then to support the rise in energy prices.
“Inability to honor order books”
Beyond this “normalization” expected, the figures published by Altares reveal the fragilities of the economic fabric, confronted, after two years of pandemic, with the energy crisis. With 3,214 procedures opened in 2022, the acceleration of bankruptcies is very strong (+78%) in the ranks of SMEs with less than 100 employees. Young companies less than three years old appear particularly vulnerable: insolvencies have almost doubled (+94%) in this category.
According to the figures communicated by the registries of the commercial courts on January 5, 30% of the companies struck off in 2022 had been created less than two years earlier. Finally, the total number of jobs threatened by liquidation or legal proceedings has risen above the 140,000 mark, ie 50,000 additional jobs in one year.
The most affected sectors are also among those facing particularly high energy bills or struggling the most to find labor
While the year 2022 should end with an increase in gross domestic product of 2.6%, these bankruptcies are not necessarily linked to sluggish activity, quite the contrary. “For some VSEs and SMEs, it is their inability to honor order books that are nevertheless well filled that could lead them to default”, analyzes Millon.
Rather, the problems stem “supply difficulties, skyrocketing material costs and recruiting problemsyou ». The sectors most affected are also among those which are confronted with particularly heavy energy bills or which have the greatest difficulty in finding labour: restaurants, bakeries, masonry, hairdressing salons, cafes…
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