UK retailer M&S puts cyberattack cost at $400m as disruptions continue
British retailer Marks & Spencer estimates that a cyberattack that stopped it from processing online orders and left store shelves empty will cost it about 300 million pounds ($403m).
The company said in a business update (PDF) on Wednesday that disruption from the 'highly sophisticated and targeted cyber attack,' which was first reported around the Easter weekend, is expected to continue until July.
Online sales of food, home and beauty products have been 'heavily impacted' because the company, popularly known as M&S, had to pause online shopping.
The attack on one of the biggest names on the United Kingdom high street forced M&S to resort to pen and paper to move billions of pounds of fresh food, drinks and clothing after it switched off its automated stock systems.
That led to bare food shelves and frustrated customers, denting profits.
A month on, M&S's large online clothing service remains offline, and the attack has wiped more than a billion pounds off its stock market value.
Chairman Archie Norman said the timing of the attack was unfortunate as M&S, which has been implementing a comprehensive turnaround plan since 2022, had been starting to show its full potential.
'But in business life, just as you think you're onto a good streak, events have a way of putting you on your backside,' he said.
M&S, which has 65,000 staff and 565 stores, said the hack would cost about 300 million pounds ($403m) in lost operating profit in its year to March 2026, although it hopes to halve that impact through insurance, cost control and other actions.
Chief executive Stuart Machin said the company is focused on recovery and restoring its systems and operations.
'This incident is a bump in the road, and we will come out of this in better shape,' Machin said. He did not provide any details on the attack or who might be behind it.
Earlier this month, the company said customer personal data, which could have included names, emails, addresses and dates of birth, was taken by hackers in the attack.
Two other British retailers, luxury London department store Harrods and supermarket chain Co-op, have also been targeted by cyberattacks at around the same time.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump announces second round of US trade talks with China next week
United States President Donald Trump has announced a new round of trade talks with China in an apparent bid to dial down a bitter battle over tariffs between the world's two biggest economies. The president said on social media that the meeting would take place in London on Monday, his announcement coming one day after a rare leader-to-leader phone call with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping appeared to calm rising tensions. 'The meeting should go very well,' said Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would meet the Chinese team. The talks will mark the second round of negotiations between the two countries since Trump launched his trade war this year, targeting China with levies of up to 145 percent. Beijing struck back with countermeasures of 125 percent. Following talks in Geneva last month, both sides agreed to temporarily bring down the triple-digit tariffs, with US tariffs cooling to 30 percent and China's to 10 percent. But the temporary halt is expected to expire in early August and Trump last week accused China of violating the pact, underscoring deeper differences on both sides. US officials have accused China of slow-walking export approvals of rare earth minerals, which the country had limited after the tariff war broke out, triggering alarm among US companies. Other US concerns include alleged fentanyl trafficking, the status of democratically governed Taiwan, and China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model. On Wednesday, Trump said on Truth Social that Xi was 'VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH'. However, he reported a 'positive conclusion', following his long-awaited phone call with Xi on Thursday, which likely paved the way for further high-level trade talks – though a swift resolution to the tariffs impasse remains uncertain. The Chinese foreign ministry said Xi asked Trump to 'remove the negative measures' that the US has taken against China, alluding to his administration's decision to revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US.
Qatar Tribune
29-05-2025
- Qatar Tribune
Stocks, dollar rally as Trump tariffs hit court roadblock
Agencies London European stocks and Wall Street futures rose on Thursday after a US federal court blocked President Donald Trump'sso-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs from going into effect, sending the dollar up on safe-haven currencies. The little-known Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing his April 2 across-the-board duties on imports from US trading partners. The White House quickly appealed the decision, and could take it all the way to the Supreme Court if needed. But in the meantime, it offered some hope that Trump might back away from the highest tariff levels he had threatened. 'The ruling has brought a temporary sense of relief to the markets, even as uncertainty lingers over whether the administration will fully comply,' said James Leong, chief executive officer at Grasshopper Asia. 'While volatility has eased for now, the lack of clarity around the government's response could reignite market turbulence. Until the Supreme Court provides a definitive ruling, we're unlikely to see a lasting resolution,' he added. The ruling could also encourage US trading partners to stall any trade negotiations they are having with the White House while they wait to see how the case is resolved. However, analysts at Goldman Sachs noted the order does not block sectoral levies, and there were other legal avenues for Trump to impose across-the-board and country-specific tariffs. 'This ruling represents a setback for the administration's tariff plans and increases uncertainty but might not change the final outcome for most major US trading partners,' analyst Alec Phillips wrote in a note. Europe's STOXX 600 index was up 0.3 percent in early London trade. US markets looked primed for a stronger reaction with S&P 500 futures last up 1.6 percent. Nasdaq futures were up 2%, also benefiting from relief over earnings from Nvidia , which beat sales estimates. But Britain's FTSE 100 index shrugged off the news and was last down 0.1 percent. 'Is this a sign that stock markets in countries who did manage to score trade deals with the US in recent weeks, could be at a disadvantage if tariffs are reversed? This could be a short-term theme to watch,' said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. Britain was the first country to secure a trade deal with the US and will hold talks with Washington next week to speed up the implementation of that deal, the Financial Times reported. Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.9 percent, while South Korean shares climbed 1.9 percent to a nine-month high. Chinese blue chips firmed 0.6 percent. The news of the court decision hit traditional safe-haven currencies, which have benefitted from tariff fears punishing the US dollar. The dollar gained nearly 1percent against the Japanese yen . It later eased and but remained up 0.3 1percent. The dollar was, meanwhile, up 0.4 1percent against the Swiss franc . Another beneficiary of dollar woes, the euro dropped as much as 0.7 1percent and was last down 0.2 1percent against the greenback. US Treasury yields rose, adding to the pressure on the market unnerved by Trump's hefty tax and spend bill, which passed the House of Representatives last week. Yields on 10-year Treasuries , which move inversely with prices, were up 4 basis points to 4.52 1percent and markets further shaved the chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut anytime soon. Longer-dated, 30-year yields held above the closely-watched 5 1percent level. Minutes of the last Fed meeting showed 'almost all participants commented on the risk that inflation could prove to be more persistent than expected' due to Trump's tariffs. A rate cut in July is now seen as around a 20 1percent chance, while September has come in at around 60 1percent, having been more than fully priced a month ago. In commodity markets, gold was down 0.2 1percent to $3,283 an ounce . Oil prices extended a rally first begun on supply concerns as OPEC+ agreed to leave its output policy unchanged and the US barred Chevron from exporting Venezuelan crude. Brent rose $1 to $65.9 a barrel, while US crude rose similarly to $62.84 per barrel.
Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- Al Jazeera
‘Betrayal' or ‘win-win'?: Britain's EU deal reopens old wounds
London, United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has proudly described a new deal with the European Union spanning defence, security, and trade as a 'win-win' pact that puts the nation 'back on the world stage'. But nine years after Britain narrowly voted in favour of leaving the EU, the deal announced on May 19 has prompted a sigh of relief for some and stinging criticism from others, underscoring just how divisive the legacy of Brexit remains in the country. While many sections of British society have welcomed the agreement, Richard Tice, an MP for the anti-immigration party Reform UK, responded to the deal with a single-word post on social media: 'Betrayal.' The deal offers concessions on European visas for British citizens, shorter queues at European airports, and possibly cheaper food in the UK. But on the flip side, the UK has agreed to allow European fishing fleets access to British waters for an extra 12 years. Phil Rusted, who runs a firm called Practical Plants in Suffolk that imports plants from Europe, is among those who are delighted. 'My instinct is it is the best news we have got in nine years,' he said. 'It almost gets us back to where were before Brexit. It helps me to take on more staff, to develop my business. The last few years have been very unpredictable; I will be more assured about what my costs are going to be.' The business sector, more broadly, has also largely responded positively to the agreement. 'In a world where higher US tariffs are threatening to throw globalisation into reverse, trade deals, even if relatively minor, are generally good news,' said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Bank. 'The obvious gainer is the food sector, which will benefit from a reduction in checks at the EU border, which could make a material difference to exporters' and importers' costs.' The Federation of Small Businesses, a group that represents small- and medium-sized firms in the UK, described the EU deal as 'genuine progress', crediting it for 'untangling the rules for small exporters of plant and animal products'. 'For too long, small businesses have shouldered the burden of unpredictable customs rules and red tape that sap confidence and ambition,' it said. And popular opinion in the UK appears to be behind the agreement. Polling by YouGov shows that 66 percent want to have a closer relationship with the EU, compared with just 14 percent who do not. To be sure, experts say the UK has to compromise too. 'The devil in a trade deal is of course always in the detail,' said Paul Dales, chief economist at Capital Economics. In addition to accepting EU access to British waters for fishing, the UK has also agreed to pay an unspecified 'appropriate financial contribution' to join the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, Dales pointed out. But the deal has also faced strong pushback. The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, in a statement on May 19, said the agreement 'surrenders the best prospect that the fishing industry and coastal communities had for growth over the coming decade'. Three days later, it issued a more biting statement, saying the deal 'drags UK fishing back into a past we thought had been left behind'. Shaw conceded that if the food industry had benefitted from the deal, the fishing sector stood 'at the other end of the scale'. And it is not just fishers. The deal has also revived a broader debate over whether the UK, in seeking to realign itself with elements of the EU's rules and regulations, is violating the mandate of Brexit. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under whom Britain formally withdrew from the EU in 2020, described the deal as an 'appalling sell out' in a post on X. Tony Gabana, a web developer from London who was too young to vote in 2016, holds that view. 'Whether it's a good deal or not, it does seem an attempt to reverse what a lot of people voted for,' Gabana said. 'It doesn't sit right with me. It feels like a step to further concessions, which, again, no one voted for. 'Are we a democracy or not?'
