41,500 insolvency proceedings expected in metropolitan France by 2022
At the end of November 2022, over a sliding 12-month period in mainland France, the cumulative number of receiverships, direct judicial liquidations, safeguard procedures and crisis exit procedures opened amounted to more than 40,500 entities, representing an increase of +46% over one year. The number of receiverships and liquidations increased by 46% over one year and the number of safeguard procedures by 37.5%.
Over the first 11 months of 2022, with almost 38,000 procedures, all types combined, the increase is + 49.4% compared to January/November 2021. The monthly trend now forecasts 41,500 collective procedures in a full year.
For the time being, insolvency proceedings (39,300) remain well below pre-crisis figures, and the same is true for the number of jobs threatened by insolvency, which nevertheless exceed 125,000 salaried positions, i.e. +59% compared to 2021. This increased social cost is explained by a significant increase in SME insolvencies over the past year (+59%) and, to a lesser extent (+12%), in the number of intermediate-sized companies.
For backups, the 1000 procedures mark now brings us back to the 2018 level, affecting more widely SMEs and ETIs.
Personal Services, Distribution and Food Processing in turmoil
From a sectoral point of view, personal services have been heavily impacted, with an 84.6% increase in insolvencies over the year, particularly in the tourism sector (up 90.5%). In this sector, traditional and fast-food restaurants and drinking establishments have almost doubled the number of business failures compared to 2021. The same trend applies to hairdressing, beauty care and body care.
In a context of inflation, household spending has been curtailed on these non-essential needs. As a result, companies in these sectors, already hard hit by the COVID crisis and often indebted to PGEs, had no other option than to file for bankruptcy. In thefood industry, the number of bankruptcies has increased by 85.2%, particularly in bakeries and pastry shops, which is unbelievable considering that the French baguette has just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The explosion of energy costs is becoming a headache for many professionals, including large industrial companies. For example, the Cofigeo group, owner of the William Saurin, Garbit, Raynal et Roquelaure and Zapetti brands, has announced that it will soon shut down four of its eight factories in France as of January 2023, which is equivalent to 80% of its capacity, as it is unable to cope with energy costs that have increased tenfold.
At the end of the chain, the distribution sector is also suffering (+68.4% of insolvencies), both in the food sector (general food stores and butchers) and in the non-food sector (convenience stores). In the regions, insolvencies are still rising significantly in the Hauts-de-France (+75%), Normandy (+59%), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie (+55%) regions.
