Red Flags | Takeovers | Resignations
One of AIM’s corporate undertakers has reported a big jump in the number of UK businesses in critical financial distress, with the construction sector suffering more than most. The gloomy outlook hasn’t stopped a construction materials distributor covered here make another acquisition - it could offer decent recovery potential when the sector springs back to life. Elsewhere, there was news of another takeover of an AIM company by private equity, while one of AIM’s wine retailers reassured that business was holding up. (Premium)
More than 47,000 UK businesses start 2024 on the edge of collapse The latest Begbies Traynor (AIM:BEG) Red Flag Alert report has found that levels of critical financial distress jumped 25.9% in the final quarter of 2023, leaving more than 47,000 businesses near collapse in the UK at the start of 2024. This represents the second consecutive period where critical financial distress has grown by around a quarter, with 539,900 UK businesses now in ‘significant’ financial distress. Every sector of the 22 covered by the Red Flag Alert saw critical financial distress increase on the prior period, but particularly in…