The epidemic is leaving more companies in a vulnerable state in the province of Alicante. The increase in indebtedness that many companies had to resort to to continue their activities during the quarantine, together with the significant decrease in their income, 12% growth in what is known as zombie companiesBusinesses that cannot make enough profit to cover their financing expenses for two consecutive years are called.
A situation that does not necessarily lead to automatic bankruptcy, but makes the viability of these companies in the future very difficult, if they don’t take some kind of precaution, and even in a context of uncertainty like what’s available. In other words, many of them are truly immortal.
Thus, according to the data provided Reports D&B, Currently in Alicante 1,716 companies Those who fall into this category who could not pay their debts consecutively in 2019 and 2020. the firm is in its initial stages where investment outweighs profitability; and excludes holding companies.
This is 12% higher than the previous study, which identified 1,527 companies in the province when analyzing the accounts of these companies for the years 2019 and 2018 by the commercial and financial information supplier.
By industry, the largest volume of zombie companies in Alicante, real estate and construction, almost twice as much as in the previous year, with a total of 613 over-indebted companies. A very high figure from Informa D&B regarding the company itself. Business Structurewith a strong financing need.
In the second place Tradewith 347 vulnerable companies, 13% more; and thirdly industryAdding 204 zombie companies, 31.6% more. The size of the companies is also important service to other companies This is what happens (199, 35% more), which reflects cuts in external services that many businesses apply to control expenses.
As a result, and as expected, the largest increase in zombie businesses was hostelIt’s where companies that don’t earn enough to pay their debts are multiplied by six, from 18 to 113, according to the same sources. Among the few industries that have improved their situation is telecommunications, where the number of vulnerable companies has decreased significantly.
end of moratorium
As the Director of Studies at Informa D&B explains, Nathalie GianeseA company’s inability to cover its financial expenses for two consecutive years does not mean the business is not viable, but it does put the company in a more vulnerable position. The problem is that right now, It’s hard to distinguish between companies that have a really serious problem and those that don’t.because it is masked by the situation moratorium According to the expert, it was approved by the Government, which allowed companies to delay filing for bankruptcy.
A moratorium other than a new extension approved in extremesExpires June 30According to most experts, this will lead to an increase in the process. Then the depth of the wounds inflicted by the pandemic on the productive tissue of the province and the whole country will begin to be known. Also, the effects Bankruptcy Law reform It is expected to be approved by Congress in the coming weeks.
Government intervention in ghost companies
Besides zombie companies, another type of company that has attracted attention in recent months is the so-called shell companies, which include companies that do not engage in commercial activity and do not deposit their annual accounts. In most cases, they are useless companies whose backers don’t bother to get them off the record, but the problem is that in other cases these companies are used as a front to commit illegal acts.
Therefore, in order to clear the job count, the Government has launched a campaign to penalize these companies, through the Tax Office, for failing to pay their balance. Although it was a project conceived before the pandemic, this exercise was when it was reactivated, as announced a few weeks ago from the Taxpayer Economists Registry.
The task is not simple. According to Informa D&B, there are 1.2 million such companies across Spain, of which 122,351 reside in the Community of Valencia, almost 10% of the total. Almost half of them were founded before 1995, so they have accumulated a considerable age.
Source: Informacion
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