S Korea's corporate defaults grow in April

South Korea's corporate bankruptcies grew last month due mainly to an increase in defaults of service companies, the central bank said Sunday. The number of companies that went belly-up stood at 110 in April, up 20 from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The April figure was the highest in 4 months. The number of failures for service firms jumped 10 in April from a month before, leading the overall increase in corporate bankruptcies. The figure for builders increased 5 over the cited period, and the manufacturers' defaults grew 2 last month. Meanwhile, the number of newly established firms came in at 6, 183 in April, down 421 from the previous month, according to the BOK. The ratio of startups to bankrupt companies dropped to 82.4 in April from 98.6 in March. The default rate on corporate bills, including bonds, checks and promissory notes, stood at 0.02 percent last month, up 0.01 percentage point from a month earlier.