More than a year after the start of the health crisis, certain businesses, deemed “non-essential”, were forced to close during the three confinements. Restaurant owners were able to reopen their terrace on May 19, and their room on June 9, nearly nine months after they closed.
State support for these businesses has made it possible to delay a feared wave of commercial bankruptcies. Thus, and this is counter-intuitive, the number of businesses on the verge of bankruptcy was reduced by 37% between 2019 and 2020, according to figures from the clerks of the commercial courts for the opening of so-called collective proceedings. “Backup”, of “Recovery” or from “Liquidation” judicial trade. The same goes for establishments in the hotel and restaurant sector.
The commercial courts provide an overview of the situation, because they are the ones who are competent to judge procedures relating to businesses. Indeed, in the event of financial difficulties, companies (and businesses) are placed under judicial supervision in the context of collective proceedings to organize the settlement of their debts. Depending on the degree of seriousness of their financial situation, the court opens an appropriate procedure: safeguard, reorganization or liquidation.
The figures presented below come from the Statistical Observatory of the National Council of Commercial Court Clerks (CNGTC) and capture all the businesses in difficulty (establishments both in safeguard, reorganization and liquidation proceedings) .
The trend was even accentuated in the first months of this year; the number of procedures launched for default of payment for all businesses fell by 36.9% between the first five months of 2019 and 2020, and by 56.8% for the same period of 2021 compared to that of 2019. Regarding the hotel and catering industry, there is a decrease in bankruptcy proceedings recorded by 39.9% between January and May 2020 and 2019, increasing to – 68.9% between the first five months of 2021 and 2019.
These figures testify above all to the aid system put in place to face the crisis (loan guaranteed by the State, short-time working, end of assignments in the Urssaf procedure and taxes).
By analyzing the figures for the months of April and May, comparable between 2020 and 2021, Thierry Millon, director of studies for the firm Altares, specializing in information on companies, however notes a resumption of failures in small local food shops (grocery stores), while four types of activity are particularly spared (equipment of home, sports and leisure, optics and clothing). The restoration has not yet started to recover from failures, since the establishments were closed and assisted until the reopening of the terraces on May 19.
“Without fearing the worst, the situation will naturally start to reverse; I don’t think we have to risk a bankruptcy wall. We have a situation that remains under control, Mr. Millon details. I don’t think there will be less of them, but that the failures will spread out over time. Household consumption, which is obviously the backbone of the recovery, may not be present in each of the activities and, a fortiori, in each of the companies ”, he specifies.
It remains to be seen whether the gradual withdrawal of aid and new consumption habits, in particular online shopping, will allow businesses to get out of this artificial situation at a lower cost.