Marks and Spencer has said it will take a £136 million (€154 million) hit to its annual profits from a cyber attack that caused havoc with the UK high street retailer’s online sales earlier this year.
In results on Wednesday, the retailer reported a £101.6 million charge in the first half relating to the attack and a further £34 million in the second half as it brought forward a technology overhauled in response.
The attack caused a 55 per cent fall in first-half profits to £184.1 million, down from £413.1 million a year earlier.
However, chief executive Stuart Machin said he expected profits in the second half to rebound “to be at least in line with last year”.
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The group had previously forecast that the April attack, which led to the theft of customer data and wiped more than £750 million off its market capitalisation, would cost it up to £300 million in operating profits this year.
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M&S has said it believes DragonForce, a group of largely Russian cyber criminals, was behind the attack, which left it unable to sell clothes and furniture online for seven weeks. The company also confirmed it had claimed £100 million from its insurers.
Revenue for the six months to September 27 rose 22 per cent to nearly £8 billion. Growth in food sales, its largest business by revenue, offset a decline in fashion and home and beauty, which was hard hit by the cyber attack.
Adjusted basic earnings per share slid 55 per cent to 6.6p. The dividend rose by a fifth to 1.2p a share. --Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
