UK-listed companies issued more profit warnings in the three months to September than in any other period since the 2008 financial crisis, new research has found.
The cost-of-living crisis surge caused 86 British companies to issue profit warnings between July and September, up over two-thirds compared with last summer, according to EY-Parthenon figures.
Of these, 28 companies are in the “danger zone,” meaning they warned over profits three times in the past 12 months said the report.
Among those include furniture seller Made.com. which has been forced to put itself up for sale, and electronics business AO World, which saw sales hit drastically by soaring prices.
More than 40% of retailers on FTSE issued a profit warning in the past year, the data showed.
Historically, about one-fifth of businesses that issue three profit warnings either collapse into administration or are bought within a year of the third caution.
Unprecedented energy costs and the risk of winter blackouts were the biggest concerns for 43% of the 500 business leaders surveyed by accountant BDO.
Onto the consumer side of things, approximately 20% of people said they had been selling second-hand items to raise extra cash.
Consumer confidence, meanwhile, plummeted to its lowest level since records began in 2011, a Deloitte survey revealed.