Local News

The Fukuoka City branch of credit rating company Tokyo Shoko Research released statistics for Kyushu and Okinawa bankruptcies in FY 2007 showing that the number of companies declaring bankruptcy with liabilities of at least 10 million yen soared 14.3% to 1,359, the second straight annual increase. The aggregate liabilities totaled 435.698 billion yen, 18.1% higher than the year before. The primary reason cited by companies for closing their doors was poor sales or other economy-related factors. This was the critical factor in 71.9% of the cases, the highest percentage ever.