May saw 1,696 corporate bankruptcies, a drop of 1.6 percent from a year earlier and the first fall in five months, credit research agency Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.

But the number of bankrupt firms increased 3.4 percent from the previous month, the agency said.

The number of insolvent companies has surpassed the 1,600 line for five months in a row and the May figure is the fifth-largest postwar monthly total, Teikoku Databank said.