M&S reveals massive financial hit from cyber attack

""We entered 2025/26 with strong trading momentum and a clear plan to invest in transformation and growth. However, in the first few weeks of the financial year, we experienced a cyber incident. We responded quickly and took immediate action to protect our customers, our suppliers and the business which included proactively taking some of our systems offline," said chief executive Stuart Machin."

""Since the incident, we have prioritized recovery across our technology estate and restoring operations. Our customer-facing systems were restored in the summer, and practically all operational systems have now been recovered.""

"However, Simon Phillips, CTO of Engineering at CybaVerse, said the retailer only recovered a "very small proportion of its losses" and urged other businesses to take note."

Marks & Spencer's H1 2025 statutory profit before tax fell 99%, from £391.9 million to £3.4 million, with adjusted profit before tax down from £413 million to £184 million. The business recorded almost £102 million in one-off costs in the first half related to the cyber incident and forecasts a further £34 million of similar costs in the second half. Management proactively took some systems offline, prioritised recovery across the technology estate, and restored customer-facing systems in the summer. A £100 million insurance payout helped profits, but external experts warn insurers covered only a small proportion of total losses and caution against assuming ransom payments resolve all damage.

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