M&S PREDICTS ‘CYBERATTACK’ TO COST $400 MILLION

M&S PREDICTS ‘CYBERATTACK’ TO COST $400 MILLION – M&S also predicts continued online disruption throughout June and into July 

British retailer Marks & Spencer’s have said a “highly sophisticated cyber” attack would cost it about 300 million pounds in operating profit, with disruption set to run into July.

The attack on one of the biggest names in Britain, with 64,000 staff and 565 stores, sent shockwaves through the retail sector. It forced its online clothing operation offline, left some food shelves bare, and wiped over a billion pounds from the company’s stock market value.

M&S said it expected online disruption to continue throughout June and into July as it restarts systems and then ramps up operations.

It said food sales had been impacted by reduced availability, although that had since improved. It incurred additional costs due to waste and logistics as it had to resort to manual operations.

It said in fashion, home and beauty, online sales and trading profit had been heavily impacted by the decision to pause online shopping, but stores had “remained resilient.”