The number of corporate insolvencies increased by 20% in Scotland in the second quarter, in a sign that conditions remain tough for many businesses.
However, the number of firms going into some form of insolvency proceeding fell by 58% compared to the same quarter last year.
Figures compiled by the official Insolvency Service show there were 197 corporate insolvency proceedings in Scotland in the three months to June, up from 164 in the first quarter.
The data may temper any optimism that was encouraged previously by news that the number of insolvencies in Scotland fell by 27% in the first three months of 2013, compared with the final quarter of 2012.
Matt Henderson, head of business recovery and insolvency Services at Johnston Carmichael chartered accountants, highlighted the fall in insolvencies in the latest quarter compared with the same period of 2012.
Noting signs the economy was growing again, he said: "This drop implies an improvement in trading conditions for the second three months of 2013."
However, he added: "These latest statistics could also be the result of struggling companies receiving greater support from their creditors, which are allowing them to trade longer in the hope they can eventually emerge from their current difficulties."
Some 158 firms went into liquidation in the second quarter in Scotland, compared with 113 in the preceding three months.
Only 39 businesses went into receivership or administration, or entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement with creditors, compared with 51 in the preceding quarter.
The number of individual insolvencies increased 15% in the quarter to 3,999 from 3,486 in the previous three months. Indvidual insolvencies fell 29% compared with the second quarter of 2012.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article