Consultancy firm EY has said that UK-based firms have announced the most profit warnings in a financial quarter since 2008, including supermarket Tesco and Next.  

In Q3 of 2014, 69 UK-based companies issued profit warnings, up from 56 in the same period in 2013 and the highest level for the third quarter since 2008.

Retail firms were hit particularly hard, with six retailers issuing warnings during the period covered, up from two in the second quarter and the highest number in three years.