Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310154
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bankruptcy filings in Virginia in 1990 increased 35 percent over filings in the previous year. Nationally, failures increased 20 percent in 1990.
There were 1,585 state businesses that filed for bankruptcy in 1990, up from 1,177 in 1989.
Finance, insurance and real estate saw the most increases in bankruptcy filings, as 121 businesses filed for bankruptcy in 1990, a 57 percent increase from 1989.
Seventy-four manufacturing companies filed for bankruptcy last year, and increase of 54.2 percent from the previous year. The service industry in Virginia saw 470 bankruptcy filings, up 49.7 percent from 1989.
But Dun & Bradstreet said Virginia's agriculture, forestry and fishing companies actually slowed their pace of failure. They filed 9.7 percent fewer claims last year than in the previous year.
Bankruptcy statistics were similar nationally, with financial and real estate companies leading the way to bankruptcy court.
"The depressed real estate market, combined with the impact of the savings-and-loan crisis, contributed to the strong increase in finance, insurance and real estate failures nationwide," said Joseph Duncan, chief economist at Dun & Bradstreet.
The increase in failures in the service industry, at 29.2 percent nationally, was mainly caused by a rise in bankruptcies among firms providing business services, Duncan said.
The Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions experienced increases in business failures early in 1990, and the South Atlantic region, which includes Virginia, saw a marked increase in the last half of 1990. This might suggest economic problems are spreading south.
The bill for bankruptcies totaled $64 billion in 1990, Dun & Bradstreet said. Last year, there was a 51 percent increase in the dollar value of liabilities those businesses held.
by CNB