THE number of Scottish companies falling into insolvency has dropped to a level not seen since before the recession began in 2008.

Figures released by KPMG suggest there was a 30 per cent drop in the number of corporate insolvency appointments between July and September, compared with the same quarter last year.

The number of appointments was also down by 17 per cent against the preceding quarter this year, the accountancy giant said, to 158 in the third quarter from 194 in quarter two. And it highlighted that the number of businesses which failed in the first nine months of 2015 was down 14 per cent on the opening three quarters of 2014, at 627 versus 733 last year.

KPMG, which compiles the data, said the figures signal that business confidence is broadly on the rise in Scotland, while noting that challenges remain in sectors such as oil and gas. The figures suggest there was a total of 177 corporate insolvency appointments in the quarter to September 30 this year, compared with 254 over the same period in 2014.

Within that, there were 158 liquidation appointments, which tend to affect smaller businesses, over the quarter. This was down from 239 in the three months to September 30 last year.

But the number of administration appointments, which typically affect larger organisations, increased by 27 per cent to 19 from 15 in the same quarter last year, the figures found.

The figures point to an improvement for Scottish businesses over the first nine months of the year. KPMG noted a total of 627 corporate insolvency appointments in that time, down from 733 in 2014.

Liquidation appointments were down to 561 in the nine months to September 30 compared with 684 in the first nine months of 2014 – a fall of 18 per cent.

However administration appointments rose by 26 per cent to 66, compared with 49 in the nine months to September 30, 2014.

Blair Nimmo, head of restructuring for KPMG in Scotland, said that while the fall in insolvency appointments was encouraging, companies are not behaving bullishly about their future trading prospects.

Although economic indicators in areas such as employment and house prices are broadly positive, and that the trend towards fewer insolvencies was not fairly established, Mr Nimmo said "people are being careful with their cash".

"They are not going out to borrow too much and keeping their cost base tight," he added.

"Not many are saying trading is buoyant, but they are not experiencing the difficulties they were four or five years ago."

While fewer businesses are reporting insolvency events, Mr Nimmo warned that companies are approaching the future with caution, noting that sectors such as steel and oil and gas continued to face significant challenges.

He does not expect to see widespread failure among companies the oil and gas sector in light of the lower price of Brent crude, stressing that businesses in this sector have proved adept at adjusting their cost bases. But some consolidation may yet come as companies in weaker positions find themselves becoming takeover targets.

On the steel sector, he sympathised with those affected by the situation at Tata Steel in Lanarkshire. But he noted the downsizing of the sector in recent years means the impact will not be as acute is it might have been before.