The collapse last year of Portugal’s justice portal CITIUS has been blamed for the 9% increase in the number of bankrupt companies (5,529) between January and September 2015.
Risk management company Ignios explains the increase is “artificial” as only 157 bankruptcies were registered in September 2014 due to CITIUS’ collapse – which left courts at a standstill and saw many bankruptcies going under the radar.
If the crash hadn’t happened, bankruptcies would only have increased 0.9%, affirms CEO of Ignios. But even with it, Faro, Porto, Castelo Branco and Bragança registered a lower number of company bankruptcies than in 2014.
Lisbon (1,287) and Porto (1,089) stand out as the places where most companies went out of business.
On a more positive foot, Ignios has revealed that nearly 30,000 new companies have been launched this year – representing a 9.8% increase compared to 2014.
For every company that went bankrupt, says Ignios, five new companies were created.
