The number of companies going to the wall fell by almost one-fifth to 1,141 in the first 10 months of the year, figures released yesterday show.

According to the Insolvency Journal, published by corporate restructuring specialist Kavanagh Fennell, a total of 1,141 companies were wound up or placed in examinership or receivership between January and the end of October.

The figure was 19 per cent lower than the same period in 2012, when the total was 1,408. The decline in insolvencies was slower in the month of October itself, when 116 companies ran into trouble, which was 8 per cent less than the same month in 2012.

Rate of decline
Kavanagh Fennell partner David van Dessel noted yesterday the overall drop in insolvencies this year has been in the region of 20 per cent, but he said that the rate of decline has not picked up. "This is a little surprising as one would have expected the slowdown in corporate insolvency to increase in pace during 2013, which it hasn't. It has remained relatively constant, albeit at a lower rate of incidence," he said.

The number of liquidations, the most common insolvency process, fell 21 per cent to 838, the biggest drop. Creditors appointed receivers to 285 companies in the first 10 months of the year, 13 per cent fewer than during the same period in 2012.