We began analysing UK profit warnings in 1999. Since then, we’ve published 80 quarterly reports telling UK plc’s story through twenty years of economic flux.
To mark this anniversary, we’ve taken a deeper look into this powerful dataset. We’ve explored the trends behind two decades of UK profit warnings and undertaken a special analysis of companies that have issued ‘multiple profit warnings’ – three or more warnings within a year – looking at how their fate has changed over time.
As capital moves with increasing pace, it is more important than ever that we understand the triggers behind profit warnings and how companies can build resilience and reshape their future in this unpredictable world.
Over 6,000 profit warnings from more than 2,000 companies have provided us with powerful insight into business, capital and economic trends.
Steve Ivermee
Partner, Private Equity, Ernst & Young LLP
No sector is immune from profit warnings, but retailers and contractors are most at risk.
Since 2016, the median gap between a company's third warning and a restructuring event has shrunk to 91 days.
The third profit warning is a knockout blow for one in five companies.
Alan Hudson examines the increasing speed of investor reaction to profit warnings.
