Information Releases

Japan’s Business Failures during April to September 2019

(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)

Highlight and Outstanding Feature

• ■There were 4,172 bankruptcies, in the first half of FY2019 (4,012 in the same period of the previous year, up 4.0% year-on-year), marking the first increase compared with the same period of the previous year in two years.
• ■Liabilities totaled 564,648 million yen (774,910 million yen in the same period of the previous year, down 27.1% year-on-year); this was the second consecutive year-on-year decrease and the lowest amount on a half-year basis since FY2000 as a year that can be compared.
• ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in five of seven industries. In the retail industry (988 bankruptcies), bankruptcies were up 11.3% compared with the same period of the previous year because restaurants were affected by factors such as soaring labor costs and raw material costs, and there was a conspicuous increase in bankruptcies of retailers of textile products such as clothing and sundries. In the transport and communication industry (145 bankruptcies), bankruptcies of companies involved in road freight transportation were up 22.2% mainly due to a lack of drivers and a sudden increase in fuel costs.
• ■By region, eight of nine regions experienced year-on-year increases. In Tohoku (207 bankruptcies), bankruptcies exceeded 200 for the first time in eight years since the first half of FY2011 just after the Great East Japan Earthquake. In Kyushu (317 bankruptcies), the number of bankruptcies in the retail industry reached a record high on a half-year basis, and among them the increase in bankruptcies of companies including food and beverage retailers and restaurants affected by sluggish consumption was noticeable.
• ■There were 88 bankruptcies caused by a labor shortage (up 15.8% year-on-year), marking the third consecutive year of year-on-year increase.
• ■There were 227 bankruptcies caused by a difficulty in finding a successor (up 8.6% year-on-year), marking the second consecutive year of year-on-year increase.
• ■There were 255 post-moratorium bankruptcies (up 23.8% year-on-year), marking the first year-on-year increase in two years.
• ■The largest amount of liabilities was posted by Shanghai International Holding Co., Ltd. (Civil Rehabilitation Act, Tokyo, September), with liabilities of approximately 20,000 million yen.
• ■The largest amount of liabilities was posted by MT Picture Display Co., Ltd. (Osaka, special liquidation) with liabilities of 105,000 million yen.