Failures increased by 33% compared to 2023. Photo credit: Adobe
The statistics as of September 30, 2024 from the La Rochelle Commercial Court have been made public. Concerning three quarters of the year, the general trend is becoming more refined and the general context seems to remain complex for the nautical sector while those of the rail and aeronautics sectors are at cruising speed.
“The first 2024 results are not very encouraging, it seems that the year 2024 will be a record year in terms of business failures, as evidenced by the figures from the Banque de France which recorded more than 63,000 failures over the last 12 months . Never seen in 10 years »describes the AGS in its latest report for the third quarter of 2024. Continuing from the first half of 2024, the number of beneficiaries of the AGS guarantee continues to increase in the third quarter (+23% compared to 2023) and 91,000 employees benefit from its intervention throughout the territory. A phenomenon that can be explained: before the Covid period, failures fluctuated around 55/60,000 per year; during the health crisis, the aid made it possible to contain a rate of 40,000 failures per year; today, and now that the state has stopped this exceptional aid, it is estimated that between 10 and 15,000 companies are no longer able to cope.
“The general context is objectively complicated”
The subjects which “worry” the Commercial Court concerns “the nautical sector for which order books have greatly decreased”, specifies Alain Bouchet, president of the Commercial Court of La Rochelle in a press release. However, the situation remains variable depending on the companies and the targeted market. On the other hand, “the railway and aeronautics sectors remain buoyantexplains the president before adding, with regard to the “smaller” businesses and retail businesses, the subject of the level of rents is undoubtedly a handicap in the agglomeration of La Rochelle, that of Rochefort and in the two islands”.
“The general context is objectively complicated,” he announces. Insolvencies increased by 33% compared to 2023. “This progression is quite significant, but the failures were less in our jurisdiction than in other neighboring courts in 2023, hence the level of the percentage observed”he notes. The most affected sectors are “real estate development and construction, certain boating companies, transport affected by the drop in transactions in volume and retail businesses such as food and personal and household equipment, hairdressers and beauty institutes aesthetic “he adds. Points of vigilance should be noted for larger companies in terms of activity and employees as well as start-ups which could find themselves trapped by a later start of marketing.
The Commercial Court counts 841 payment injections in 2024 versus 691 in 2023, an increase of 22%. “This increase is a strong indicator of the cash flow tensions of our companies in the Aunis basin », Indicates the president. Regarding legal adjustments, 66 have been quantified compared to 37 in 2023, i.e. a high of 78%. “A development which can be explained insofar as many companies were eligible for a 10-year clearance plan”he explains.
