Bankruptcies up 15% on 2008

FIFTEEN per cent more French businesses went bankrupt in the second quarter of 2009 compared to 2008.

A total of 14,000 firms went bankrupt in the period. The worst hits areas are industry (non-food) - 53% worse than 2008 - and property (55%).

Despite the negative picture, the new figures, published by specialists in business information Altares, show an improvement compared to the first quarter of the year when the overall figure was 21%. The months of December and March had been especially bad, the firm says, at more than 30% on average.

The increases were worst for larger firms compared to smaller ones. Hardest hit was the 100 – 199 employees bracket there were twice as many bankruptcies as last year.

Those doing best are sole traders with no employees at all - 4% fewer went bankrupt compared to last year.