Company insolvencies declined by 26 per cent in January compared to the same month a year earlier, according to new figures from Vision-net.

A total of 74 businesses were declared insolvent during January 2014. Of these, 39 were liquidated, 34 entered receivership and an Examiner was appointed to one company.

The most vulnerable industry currently is the property sector, which accounted for just over 16% of all insolvencies recorded in January. There was also a high number of insolvencies in both the construction and hospitality sectors.

Moreover, over two-thirds of companies in the hospitality sector were deemed at high risk of collapse while, in construction, 61 per cent of firms were seen to be experiencing difficulties.

A county-by-county breakdown of the figures for this month reveals that 49 per cent of insolvencies took place in Dublin, an increase of 13.6 per cent over January, 2013. Galway had the second highest level of insolvencies on 8 per cent, followed by Wexford at 7 per cent. In Cork, the number of insolvent companies fell by 11.6 per cent to 5.4 per cent.

In all, 46 companies held meetings of creditors this month, a 48 per cent drop on the same period a year ago. These companies owed creditors short-term debts of more than €9 million, down from €38.6 million in January 2013. However, 34 Receivers were appointed to companies this month.

A total of 2,958 company and business start-ups this month were registered during January, in line with the same period last year.