European-listed companies saw the largest increase in going concern opinions in fiscal year (FY) 2019 since 2010. Going concern opinions increased 42% from FY 2018, despite the number of total opinions decreasing in FY 2019. This spike is due in large part to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Many auditors were issuing opinions for FY 2019 in early 2020 at the height of uncertainty about how the pandemic would affect businesses in the coming year.

In this article, Audit Analytics takes a closer look at going concern opinions in public companies listed on regulated European exchanges over the past 12 years.