Swedish corporate bankruptcies soar 51 pct in Q1

STOCKHOLM, April 7 (Reuters) - Corporate bankruptcies in Sweden surged in the first quarter as the Nordic country, pummelled by the global economic downturn, moved deeper into recession, data showed on Tuesday. Sweden's biggest credit information agency, UC, said the number of companies entering bankruptcy proceedings shot up 51 percent to 1,909 in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2008.

"In March the increase was a huge 85 percent versus the same month of 2008. Retailers in the larger urban regions are the hardest hit," the agency said in a statement.

"The pace of the explosion in bankruptcies we are now experiencing brings to mind the crisis in the early 1990s."

Sweden's economy is seen suffering its sharpest contraction since the 1940s this year while unemployment in the coming years is seen rising to levels last seen almost two decades ago, when the country was hit by a home-grown banking crisis. "UC estimates that 2009 will be a pitch black year for bankruptcies," the agency said.