Business | Economy
UK profit warnings at highest level since 2001
UK companies issued the most profit warnings since 2001 as customers cut orders and consumers reduced spending in the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression, according to Ernst & Young LLP.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 23:41 January 11, 2009
London: UK companies issued the most profit warnings since 2001 as customers cut orders and consumers reduced spending in the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression, according to Ernst & Young LLP.
The number of profit warnings rose 17 per cent to 449, Ernst & Young, one of the world's four biggest accounting firms, said in an e-mailed report. Most came from support services companies followed by retailers, it said.
Companies are bracing themselves for a tougher year ahead because banks aren't lending and the UK and its trading partners are entering recessions.
"With credit markets still frozen and confidence continuing to deteriorate, the next 12 months look set to be equally dramatic, if not more," the report from the corporate restructuring team said.
By percentage, the construction and automobile industries were the most troubled last year, with 60 per cent of companies in each industry issuing warnings. Most companies pinned the changes in outlook on the economic environment.
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