Corporate insolvencies leap in June qtr

Corporate insolvencies leapt 20 per cent to 2,221 during the June quarter on the prior corresponding period, while personal bankruptcies rose six per cent for the September quarter, according to Credit Suisse.

Queensland and Victoria saw the highest rate of volume growth in corporate insolvencies, or companies placed in external administration, with June quarter growth rates of 38 per cent and 37 per cent respectively compared to the previous corresponding quarter.

By contrast NSW saw an eight per cent climb for the June quarter, the broker's James
Ellis, Peter Anderson and James Cordukes wrote in a note to clients after analysing
data from Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia.
But Australia's most populous state accounted for 45 per cent of all corporate
insolvencies, with 30 per cent taking place in Victoria, and 15 per cent in
Queensland.
Information on corporate insolvencies is not yet available for the September 2008
quarter.
Personal bankruptcies during the September quarter jumped six per cent on the
September 2007 level to 6,633, but fell five per cent on the June 2008 quarter.
Housing loans sitting on banks' books that are in arrears by 90 days or more was
0.41 per cent during the June quarter, unchanged from a year ago.
A sharp rise in home foreclosures took place over recent months in Western
Australia, the broker said.
The number of quarterly Australian bankruptcy volumes has been rising since early
2005 and is now only marginally below its cycle peak reached in the June quarter
2001, Credit Suisse said.