Company chiefs fret even as UK clears its first Brexit test

The UK economy may have cleared its 2016 Brexit test, but that’s not easing companies’ concerns about the approaching challenges.

Days before figures are predicted to show a healthy 0.5% expansion in the last quarter of 2016, businesses from airline EasyJet to telecommunications firm BT Group cited Brexit-linked problems such as a weaker pound and loss of business as they offered investors a forbidding outlook for this year.

The warnings are in stark contrast to the UK’s performance since the vote in June to leave the EU, which has seen the economy defy gloomy predictions and maintain its momentum.