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 Q1 2026
- The number of companies entering insolvency proceedings is levelling off: 15,180 in Q1, against 15,626 a year earlier. It remains almost twice the level of early 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: 9.5 failures per 1,000 companies rated 0 to 2 over the quarter, against 1.9 for the best rated.
A high plateau
Companies subject to an opening judgment published in the BODACC during the quarter.
With 15,180 companies entering proceedings, early 2026 sits 2.9% below 2025. The steady rise from 2022 to 2024 has given way to a plateau.
That plateau is still very high. First-quarter volumes almost doubled in four years, and Q4 2025 was the busiest quarter of the period, with 17,604 companies.
Court-supervised reorganisations edge up: 4,517 openings, against 4,464 a year earlier. 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 18,986 failures over the quarter, up 6.4%.
Failures without published accounts
Failing companies of the quarter, by their latest accounts.
9,790 of the 15,180 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 5,390 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 5 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 4% of the lowest-rated companies, against less than 1% of the best rated.
A good rating is no guarantee, though: 23% 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, Q1 2026 compared with Q1 2025.
Real estate falls 26% and construction 4.8%. Hospitality and food service level off, but at a high level: 2,385 companies in a single quarter.
Transport and logistics (+4.4%), digital (+2.4%) and retail and wholesale (+1.0%) are rising again. Retail and wholesale remains the largest contributor, with 3,260 companies. Industry and business services improve slightly, down around 3%.
Takeovers of the quarter
Proceedings do not always end a business. Six takeovers tracked by CapFi, each party linked to its profile.
La Trinitaine by Breizh Rebond (ECDA Investissements)
Breton biscuit maker, €40m in revenue. Sale plan refocused on dry biscuits, more than 80 jobs cut.
Groupe Royer (Kickers) by Chaussea
Asset purchase in liquidation: the Kickers brand and the Javené site, 45 employees kept.
Brandt France by Cafom
Brandt, De Dietrich, Sauter and Vedette brands bought for €18.6m in liquidation.
MCA, a subsidiary of ACI Group by Safran
Break-up of an engineering group: a subsidiary bought by a major customer, almost all jobs kept.
Segula Holding by Eiffel Investment Group
Debt reduced, new reference shareholders alongside Eurazeo.
Marron Travaux Publics by Constructel (offer)
Civil works mid-cap, €26m in revenue. The only offer on the table, partial takeover with one site closed.
Buyers are first and foremost industrial groups in the same trade, picking up brands, production capacity or know-how at a lower cost. Specialist funds step in on heavier cases, with a restructuring plan.
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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The plateau holds in Q2
15,511 companies entered insolvency proceedings, two in three with no published accounts.
Read the observatory →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, Q1 2026 (press release of 14 April 2026).
