UK companies in distress up almost 20 percent on year in third quarter

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of companies registering as insolvent in England and Wales rose by 19.3 percent year-on-year during the third quarter on an underlying basis, official data showed on Tuesday.

This was the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2009, during the depths of the financial crisis, and was driven by an increase in creditors' voluntary liquidations.

However, the number of individuals registering as insolvent fell by 2.5 percent compared with a year ago, the Insolvency Service, a British government agency, said.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)