The global credit crisis looks set to continue as a tidal wave of profit warnings, particularly in the retail industy in the fourth quarter, confirmed its impact beyond the financial sector, according to the latest research by Ernst & Young.

The E&Y research shows profit warnings reached a six-year record in the fourth quarter of 2007, at 107 – up 22% on the same period last year and the highest figure since the fourth quarter of 2001.

Total warnings for the year, at 384, were the highest since 2001. According to the report, one in five warnings in the last three months of 2007 – most of them from outside the financial sector, particularly the retail industry – cited the fallout from the US sub-prime mortgage as the main reason for the profit warning.

This week’s British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) quarterly economic survey is said by insiders to be ‘flashing red’ as output, orders and expectations are all down sharply, except for companies’ expectations of price rises, which are at a record high, The Times reports.

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