21-05-2025
M&S warns of £300m hacking crisis hit - and disruption could last months
Marks and Spencer (M&S) has warned investors it is facing a £300m hit to trading profits as a result of last month's ransomware attack.
The company said its estimate did not include other costs, such as insurance - as it warned the disruption may last for months.
The continuing fallout from last month's cyberattack is hanging over the retailer's outlook as its online channels remain down for payments.
M&S said: "Over the last few weeks, we have been managing a highly sophisticated cyber incident. As a team, we have worked around the clock with suppliers and partners to contain the incident and stabilise operations, taking proactive measures to minimise the disruption for customers.
"We are seeking to make the most of the opportunity to accelerate the pace of improvement of our technology transformation and have found new and innovative ways of working.
"We are focused on recovery, restoring our systems, operations and customer proposition over the rest of the first half, with the aim of exiting this period a much stronger business.
"Since the incident, Food sales have been impacted by reduced availability, although this is already improving. We have also incurred additional waste and logistics costs, due to the need to operate manual processes, impacting profit in the first quarter.
"In Fashion, Home & Beauty, online sales and trading profit have been heavily impacted by the necessary decision to pause online shopping, however stores have remained resilient. We expect online disruption to continue throughout June and into July as we restart, then ramp up operations. This will also mean increased stock management costs in the second quarter.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
