The pace of US corporate bankruptcy filings decelerated at the start of the new year, though companies still face relatively high interest rates and a challenging labor market.
S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded 36 bankruptcy filings in January, down from a revised 49 in December 2023 and below most monthly filing totals in the previous year.
Notable filings
Real estate developer Hudson 888 Owner LLC sought bankruptcy protection Jan. 7. The company, which owns a mixed-use real estate project in New York City, said elevated interest rates negatively affected its sales.
Two companies with more than $1 billion in liabilities, Careismatic Brands LLC and Audacy Inc., filed for bankruptcy during the month.
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Careismatic Brands is a manufacturer of medical apparel with distribution in 70 countries. The company plans to alleviate its interest expense burden by wiping out $833 million of its debt through the restructuring process.
Audacy, a multi-platform audio content and entertainment company, intends to reduce its debt to $350 million from $1.9 billion via a deleveraging transaction. A "sharp reduction of several billion dollars in cumulative radio ad spending" over the past four years necessitated the move, CEO David Field said in a bankruptcy announcement.
Sector, state breakdown
Industrials, consumer discretionary and healthcare recorded the most bankruptcies in January, with seven, six and five filings, respectively. The three sectors also saw the most bankruptcy filings in 2023.
Geographically, the greatest number of filings originated in Texas, which saw seven companies file for protection. California had six filings and accounted for half of the month's consumer discretionary filings, while New York registered a total of four bankruptcies.
This Data Dispatch is updated regularly. The last edition was published Jan. 9.
Bankruptcy figures include public companies or private companies with public debt with a minimum of $2 million in assets or liabilities at the time of filing, in addition to private companies with at least $10 million in assets or liabilities. S&P Global Market Intelligence may remove companies from this list if it discovers that their total assets and liabilities do not meet the threshold requirement for inclusion.
