Commercial Bankruptcy Back On The Rise

by Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

More publicly-traded companies will file for bankruptcy this year than last year, according to a report put out by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Corporate Advisory and Restructuring group yesterday. It would mark the first year-over-year increase in corporate bankruptcies since 2001.

A dirty cocktail of rising interest rates, flagging economy growth and an increase in energy prices will be a bit too hard for some companies to swallow, leading to the increase in bankruptcies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers says that the industries most affected will be retail, consumer products and certain manufacturing sectors.

The report forecasts that 88 public businesses will file for bankruptcy in 2006 as opposed to 80 public businesses in 2005, an increase of roughly 9%.