M&S cyber attack and share price: Marks and Spencer will take £300m profits hit from disruption and says it will last until July
The after-effects of the cyber attack at Marks & Spencer is likely to cost the company about £300m in lost profits, it has said - and disruption will last until July.
The high street giant has not been able to take online orders since the Easter weekend because of the web-based assault. At first it had to take down its contactless card payment system, although this was quickly restored.
As well as online orders, logistics have been affected and there have been empty shelves seen around the country. Last week it admitted that some customers’ data had been taken.
Now it has said that online sales and profits in its fashion, home and beauty business have been “heavily impacted”.
Meanwhile, food sales were affected by reduced availability but the business stressed this is “already improving”.
M&S said its group operating profits are likely to be down by about £300m this year, but expects this to be reduced through cost management, insurance and other mitigations.
Chief executive Stuart Machin said: “It has been challenging, but it is a moment in time, and we are now focused on recovery, with the aim of exiting this period a much stronger business.
“There is no change to our strategy and our longer-term plans to reshape M&S for growth and, if anything, the incident allows us to accelerate the pace of change as we draw a line and move on.”
Marks & Spencer shares are on an upward trajectory, having fallen from a peak of 411.30p just before the cyber attack. They went down to 345p, but have risen again to 367p this morning.