Scottish profit alerts hit lowest in six years

Scotland’s listed companies issued the lowest number of profits warnings since 2011 last year and proved more resilient than the wider UK stock market, according to new figures.

In 2017 there were 13 profit warnings issued by Scottish listed companies, down from 19 in 2016 according to EY’S latest Profit Warnings report.

The final quarter of 2017 also saw the lowest Q4 total (three) for Scotland since 2011 when there was just one. But across the UK as a whole, listed companies issued 81 profit warnings in the final quarter, 11 per cent higher than the same period in 2016. Overall UK profit warnings dipped slightly from 283 to 276.

Colin Dempster, EY’S head of restructuring in Scotland, said the figures possibly reflected greater resilience from Scottish firms in the face of uncertainty.

“Scotland’s business landscape has been peppered with more political elections in recent years than the rest of the UK. Elections always create an element of uncertainty and arguably Scotland’s increased exposure to this has helped companies build tolerance to ambiguity caused by external factors.”

He added that many industry leaders in Scotland “have a positive outlook and are focused on seizing opportunities that could be on the horizon”.

Companies in the support services sector issued the most warnings in 2017 with 42 recorded blamed on factors including contract delays and rising prices.

The retail and leisure sectors were also among those which had seen the most profit alerts. 0 ‘Most industry leaders positive’ – Colin Dempster