The accounts before the fall
Who enters insolvency proceedings, and what their accounts said just before. A reading of business failures based on CapFi financial data.
in Q3 2026
- 12,135 companies entered insolvency proceedings in Q3, against 13,117 a year earlier. Over nine months, volumes are down 2.8%, but still 40% above Q3 2022.
- Nearly two failing companies in three had published no accounts. For a supplier, a banker or a buyer, they were invisible.
- Among those that did publish, 77% showed a positive EBITDA at their last balance sheet. Failure comes from cash first, not from the income statement.
- The CapFi score sorts the risk: 7.3 failures per 1,000 companies rated 0 to 2 over the quarter, against 1.7 for the best rated.
- Hospitality and food service is the only major sector on the rise. Business services, industry and real estate fall by more than 10%.
A first decline
Companies subject to an opening judgment published in the BODACC during the quarter.
With 12,135 companies entering proceedings, Q3 2026 is 7.5% below Q3 2025. Over the first nine months, 42,826 companies are affected, against 44,062 a year earlier.
This is the first marked decline in a third quarter since 2022. The level is still high, though: 40% above 2022. As in 2025, the summer quarter is the quietest of the year.
Court-supervised reorganisations also fall: 3,690 openings, against 4,026 a year earlier (−8.3%). They account for 30% of proceedings. The rest are direct liquidations and, marginally, safeguard proceedings.
Volumes are dated by BODACC publication, a few weeks after the judgment, and cover companies only. They differ from statistics based on the judgment date that include sole traders and associations: Altares thus counts 14,652 failures over the quarter, up 0.5%, with a high September. Part of the September judgments will only be published in the BODACC in October.
Failures without published accounts
Failing companies of the quarter, by their latest accounts.
7,724 of the 12,135 companies entering proceedings had published no accounts. Confidentiality, late filing, a company too young: for their partners, the risk could not be read.
That is the first lesson of the quarter for a supplier or a buyer: the absence of published accounts is a signal in itself, and the most frequent one among failing companies.
Among the 4,411 companies that did publish, the vast majority were neither loss-making nor in negative net worth at their last balance sheet. The tipping point comes between two year-ends: a lost customer, an unpaid invoice, a bank repayment. Cash gives way before profit does.
Accounts: latest financial year published and known to CapFi, sometimes more than a year before the failure.
The CapFi score upstream
Failures in the quarter per 1,000 companies, by CapFi financial rating, from 0 (fragile) to 10 (solid).
A company rated 0 to 2 out of 10 failed 4.4 times more often than a company rated 7 to 10 over the quarter. Risk falls at every rating step, without exception. Over a year, this pace represents about 3% of the lowest-rated companies, against less than 1% of the best rated.
A good rating is no guarantee, though: 25% of rated failures concern companies rated 7 to 10. These are shocks that annual accounts cannot anticipate, such as the loss of a major customer or the failure of a main client.
Hence the value of combining the rating with day-to-day signals: late filings, registered liens, changes of directors, press coverage.
Small and independent
Revenue at the last balance sheet of failing companies where it is known.
85% of failing companies with known revenue had sales below one million euros. Companies above €5m account for only 4% of cases.
Failure remains a matter for independent companies. A group subsidiary has a shareholder able to support its cash position, which explains its small share.
One failing manager in six is 60 or older. For these companies, proceedings often arrive just when succession should have been prepared. An early sale, even at a modest price, usually preserves more value than a court-ordered takeover.
Diverging sectors
Change in the number of companies entering insolvency proceedings, Q3 2026 compared with Q3 2025.
Hospitality and food service is the only major sector on the rise (+6.1%), with 1,871 companies entering proceedings. It extends the trend of the previous quarter.
Retail and wholesale (−2.9%) and construction (−5.2%) edge down and remain the two largest contributors, with 5,103 companies between them.
The sharpest falls are in real estate (−12.7%), business services (−11.0%) and industry (−10.7%). For business services, this is a reversal after the strong rise in Q2.
Transport (−7.5%) and digital (−3.4%) follow the general decline.
Takeovers of the quarter
Proceedings do not always end a business. Six takeovers tracked by CapFi, each party linked to its profile.
Studiel by Arial Industries
Engineering for defence and aerospace, €13m in revenue: 126 employees out of 130 kept by a competitor.
Canelés Baillardran by Bricks
A Bordeaux canelé institution: 67 jobs and 11 shops preserved.
GCK by Aminvest
Low-carbon mobility: six group companies taken over, about 140 jobs out of 188.
Azur Drones by Drone Volt
Autonomous surveillance drones: the Skeyetech technology and the viable scope taken over.
BAC Films by HLM Conseil
Film distribution: assets and catalogue taken over for about €130,000, 5 employees out of 15.
JT Automobiles by Groupe Nedey Automobiles
Alsace dealership taken over through the court: the group’s first site in Alsace.
Buyers are mostly players in the same trade: a twenty-year competitor for Studiel, a drone maker for Azur Drones, a car distribution group for JT Automobiles. They pick up a team, a technology or a location at a lower cost.
At Studiel, the offer selected was not the highest bid: the court favoured the industrial plan and jobs. The price paid is often far below the value of the business before its difficulties. For a manager who sees the situation deteriorating, an organised sale before proceedings is almost always the best option.
Spot the risk before the judgment
Financial rating, late filings, liens, changes of directors and BODACC notices: CapFi monitors your clients, suppliers and targets day to day and alerts you when their situation changes.
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Read the roundup →All insights →Sources: opening judgments for safeguard, reorganisation and judicial liquidation published in the BODACC during the quarter, each company counted once; latest financial year published and known to CapFi, and CapFi financial rating; deal summaries from the CapFi database. Context: Altares, Business failures and safeguards, Q3 2026 (press release of 13 October 2026).
