Fewer German firms insolvent

Germany's National Statistics Office (Destatis) reported Tuesday it had recorded 2,212 cases of corporate insolvencies in the country for August, marking a 7.4-percent drop compared to the level reached in the same month last year.

Among the firms having to file for bankruptcy, those in the retail and vehicle maintenance sectors appeared hardest hit, but hundreds of insolvencies were also logged in the building industry.

Estimated active debt in terms of claims from creditors was put at 1.6 billion euros ($2.14 billion) for August, an average of 732,000 euros per insolvency.

Optimistic outlook

Destatis said the number of jobs threatened by the corporate bankruptcies in question totaled about 13,800 across the nation.

The statistics office also reported a 12.8-percent decline in private household insolvencies year-on-year.

The Federal Collection Agency Association said it expected corporate insolvencies to ease throughout 2013. Cyclical developments usually take at least half a year to be reflected in insolvency statistics.

Towards the end of last year, the German economy contracted by 0.5 percent to stagnate in early 2013. But recovery has been picking up since the second quarter.

hg/ipj (Reuters, dpa)