Copyright manchestereveningnews
Marks & Spencer has issued an update to its shoppers following the costly cyber attack earlier this year. The attack cost the company around £324 million. Customer personal data, which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth, was seized during the attack. The retailer was one of several victims of a major data breach over the Easter weekend earlier this year. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE M&S said the hack was caused by "human error" and cost it £324 million in lost sales – slightly more than its £300 million earlier estimate – but it was able to recover £100 million in its first half through an insurance payout. In an update to shoppers on Wednesday, Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, said: “The first half of this year was an extraordinary moment in time for M&S. “However, the underlying strength of our business and robust financial foundations gave us the resilience to face into the challenge and deal with it. “We are now getting back on track.” He said the group also faced cost increases of more than £50 million from the national insurance hike in April over its first half, but that he expects profits to be “at least in line with last year” in the final six months of its financial year as it ramps up its cost-cutting target to £600 million. “The retail sector is facing significant headwinds… but there is much within our control and accelerating our cost-reduction programme will help to mitigate this,” he added. M&S reported a surge in activity after its clothing, home and beauty sales returned online but some competitors such as Next saw market share grow during the period of disruption, suggesting some online shoppers went elsewhere. The retailer resumed home delivery in June after the hack, but did not restart click and collect orders until August - almost four months after the attack. It said online sales have been improving and the group expects overall trading to be fully recovered by the end of its financial year. “In fashion, home and beauty, the recovery curve has been slower than food, but we are making progress every day,” Mr Machin said. The hack hampered customers' ability to make contactless payments and disrupted its order processing across numerous UK outlets. Online orders through the website and mobile app were halted for around six weeks , and stock was left depleted across a number of stores. Marks & Spencer also said that its profits have more than halved after online home and fashion sales plunged more than 40 per cent when it was forced to halt website orders. The retail giant reported its underlying pre-tax profits tumbled 55.4 per cent to £184.1 million in the six months to September 27.
