Total Number of Registered Companies
From 2010 up to 2013 there was a steady increase of 14.7% in the number of registered companies. Since the events of 2013 we have seen a change in the trend and a decrease of 7.5% in 2014 and 9.5% in 2015.
New Rgistrations of Companies
The peak in new registrations of companies in our 6 year analysis appeared in 2011 with new additions of 19,538 companies to the Registrar’s Archive. Even though 2013 was the lowest year, we can see that there are 10,847 new registrations and since then, the number of new registrations of companies showed a steady increase of 3% and 0.9% for 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Business Names & Partnerships Additional Registrations
2011 marked the lowest number of additional registrations in Business Names & Partnerships (1,402). Since 2013 we have seen a steady increase of 12.2% and 10.8% for 2014 and 2015 respectively. Additionally, 2015 marked the highest number of new registrations with a total of 1,829 entities being registered.
Overseas Companies Additional Registrations
Even though the number of new registrations of Overseas Companies has decreased considerably in the last 15 years, the numbers show a minor increase from 2010 until 2012, reaching 94 additional registrations and then drop again in 2013 to 77. In 2015 the number of new registrations dropped even further to a record low of only 71 new registrations.
Legal Form of Registered Entities
- 86% Companies ©
- Privately Held companies with Limited Liability
- Limited Liability Companies with Guarantees
- Public Limited Companies
- Listed in the Stock Exchange
- Not Listed in the Stock Exchange
- 11% are Business Names (B)
- 2% are Partnerships (P)
- 1% are Overseas (O)
% of Companies Based on Years of Operation
The chart below shows the percentage of registered companies in Cyprus, based on their years of operation.
The split is as follows:
- Less than 18 months – 11,057
- 19 months – 5 years - 22,848
- 5 – 10 years - 41,680
- 10 – 15 years - 37,359
- 15 – 20 years - 33,943
- 20 – 25 years - 17,570
- 25+ years - 72,720
* The numbers represent Active and Operational Companies.
The above comes to show that the majority of companies registered at the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver have been in operation for more than 10 years.
It is worth noting that more than 30% of registered companies have been in operation for more than 25 years.
Number of Dissolved/Written-Off Companies per Year
Using data from ICG’s unique internal database, it is interesting to observe the enormous effects that the economic crisis and the events of 2013 has had on Cypriot companies. In 2014, a total of 30,094 companies were dissolved/written-off marking an increase of more than 413% from the previous year. Even though there was a drop in the number of dissolved/written-off companies in 2015 the year ended with 9,271 companies being dissolved/written-off. During the first two months of 2016, 7,196 companies have been dissolved/written-off to date.
% of Dissolved/Written-Off Companies based on Years of Operation
83% of companies dissolved/written-off were declared as such in the first 10 years of operation, 99% in the first 20 years, and only 1% after 20 years of operation. This would imply that the higher the number of years the company is in operation, the lower the risk involved when trading with the specific company.
Annual Number of Bankrupt Companies
On average in the last 5 years a total of 162 companies have declared bankruptcy, with the highest being in 2013 with 189 companies having declared bankruptcy.
Annual Number of Voluntary Liquidations
Since 2010 we had a steady increase in the annual number of voluntary liquidations of around 23.2% per year. This shows that every year more and more entities apply for voluntary liquidation because they are unable to repay their debts. In 2015, there were a total of 2,113 voluntary liquidations, the highest number in this 6 years period.
Total Annual Value of Bounced Cheques
With the exception of 2012, the results show a significant decrease in the annual value of bounced cheques over the 6 year period. From €7,376,666 in 2010 the annual value dropped to €1,974,182 in 2015. A possible reason for this could be that either the market became more reluctant or even refused to accept cheques as a means of payment. It is also important to note that in 2013 the CIR was closed for around 6 months therefore no new registrations were recorded during that period.
Total Annual Number of Bounced Cheques
The annual number of bounced cheques reached a peak in 2012 with a total number of 4,753. Since then, we have seen a drop in the numbers, reaching 1,542 in 2015. Again, this could be due to the fact that the market had become more reluctant or even refused to accept cheques as a means of payment.
Sources
- Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver
- Central Bank of Cyprus – Central Information Registry
- Infocredit’s Group Internal Database