A total of 347 companies entered insolvency during the first three months of 2009, out of which 260 have been declared bankrupt—a 47 percent increase from 2008, according to information from Creditinfo Iceland.
From the financial district in Reykjavík. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Most of these companies, 99, went bankrupt in March. Additionally, 130 companies were removed from the Register of Corporations so far this year, without having been declared bankrupt, Morgunbladid reports.
Creditinfo is expecting 3,355 companies to enter insolvency in the coming 12 months if the situation remains unchanged.
However, 700 new companies were founded in Q1 2009, compared to 736 in the same period last year. In 2008, most of these companies were in the category of finances, now most companies are categorized within real estate.
Andrés Magnússon, managing director of the Federation of Trade and Services (FVTh), said that the government and competition authorities must ensure that competition doesn’t suffer while the economy is being reconstructed.
Click here to read more about Creditinfo’s statistics and economic forecasts.
