Profit warnings at 7-year high

Profit warnings reached a seven-year high between July and September as UK
firms
made 111 profit warnings, the highest for the third quarter since the same
period in
2001 and worse is still to come, according to a newly released report by
Ernst
& Young (E&Y).

E&Y figures from stock market listed firms were almost a third higher
than in 2007,
causing Keith McGregor, restructuring partner, to note the findings were ‘deeply

concerning’, according to
The
Press Association.

‘The end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth brought some of the
most
turbulent weeks for banks and financial markets in a generation; weeks that have

completely redefined the banking landscape and reminded us that the credit
crisis is far from over,’ he said.

Support services issued the most warnings to investors at 23 out of 209
companies in the sector, the highest ever recorded for this part of the UK
economy.