National figures show 54% increase to €36.4 million in 2009

IN FIGURES released by ICC, Limerick accounted for 62 court judgements or just over 6% of the national total. However, the total value of the judgements in Limerick sat at €2,238,974 which ranked third on the national list behind Cork €4,612,295 in second and Dublin €13,043,089. Nationally, the Value of Court Judgments (CJ’s) against companies in the Republic of Ireland for the recovery of unpaid debt increased by 54% on 2008 reaching a staggering €36.4 million in 2009. This is despite the fact that the total number of CJ’s lodged decreased from 2,065 in 2008 to 1,531 in 2009, essentially doubling the average value of a judgment from €11,452 to €23,778.

Not surprisingly the ‘Construction’ sector accounted for the largest number of Court Judgments filed with 31.4% and totalling a massive €11.4million. Manufacturing and Business Activities followed on level pairing with 14% and €5million each. The pain felt by the Hospitality Industry is visible through the €2.9million worth of CJ’s against the sector, whilst further reinforcement of the difficult year in the Housing market is reflected in the €2.7million CJ’s in Real Estate and Renting.
Dublin companies accounted for the majority of all Judgments with 36% and reaching €13million. This was followed by companies based in Cork with 13% and €4.6million. Companies based in Kilkenny, Clare, Longford, Carlow and Laois were the lowest offenders in 2009 with less than 1% of the total value each.
“Court Judgments reflect the corporate financial health of a company and are a leading indicator of insolvency’’ explained Michael Gannon, Head of Business and Account Development at ICC Information
“Lodging a Court Judgment against a company can be a timely and costly process and has a direct impact on both your companies’ working capital and cash flow, which leads to further problems. Therefore, It is essential that you understand the Judgment history of the companies you are extending credit to in order to mitigate this risk and decrease your probability of incurring bad debt. “The increase of €13m in Court Judgments to €36m in the last 12 months highlights the difficult trading conditions of 2009, but it is also worth bearing in mind that the number of Court Judgments actually fell by 25%”.