Fewer Corporate Bankruptcies in Germany

The number of companies that went bankrupt in Germany stood at 9,185 in the first quarter of the current year, 6.9 percent fewer than in the first three months of 2004, data published by the federal statistics office, Destatis, on Wednesday showed. The number of corporate failures has now declined every month so far this year, but the fall was particularly noticeable in March when 9.5 percent fewer companies filed for insolvency on a year-on-year basis, Destatis said in a statement. Nevertheless, including private individuals and other organizations, the total number of insolvencies rose by 4.1 percent to 11,278 in March alone and jumped by 10.1 percent to 30,948 in the period from January to March, Destatis calculated.