Austrian Insolvencies down by 12.6% in Q1 2015

The total number of insolvencies decreased from 1,452 in Q1 2014 by 12.6% to 1,269, while the number of rejected insolvency proceedings (due to a lack of cost covering assets)  went down by 15.8% from 606 (Q1 2014) to 510 (Q1 2015). The opened insolvency proceedings amounted to 846 in Q1 2014 and 759 in Q1 2015 reflecting a reduction of 10.3%.

	Q1 2015	Q1 2014	Change (%)
Opened Insolvencies	759	846	-10.3%
Non-Opened Insolvency Proceedings	510	606	-15.8%
Total Insolvencies	1,269	1,452	-12.6%
Total Insolvency Liabilities	MEUR 319	MEUR 467	-31.7%

(Source: KSV1870)

Do these figures contradict the assessment (e.g. by Atradius) that the annual change of insolvencies in Austria from 2014 to 2014 will be zero? No, due the factors that influence insolvency developments. Insolvency numbers (especially among over debted companies) may go up due to increasing interest rates. But however, as interest rate levels should remain low, the development of the first quarter in 2015 is quite satisfying, as KSV1870 points out.