Business
M&S profits halved after cyber hack left shelves empty and hit sales
M&S profits halved after it was hit by a cyber-attack which left shoppers unable to buy online from the company for months.
The British high street chain’s boss said the April attack was “an extraordinary moment in time” as it revealed it made £184m adjusted profit before tax for the first half of the year, compared with £413m the year prior.
As well as disrupting its online business, the hack affected the company in-store too, leaving some shelves bare in the weeks after M&S was targeted.
M&S said it had received £100m of insurance money related to combating the cyber-attack, around the amount which the incident had cost it so far, though it expects further costs in the coming months.
The fashion and food company was forced to suspend online orders for almost two months, with click and collect suspended for almost four months.
Revealing its financial figures for the six months to September, M&S said “the underlying strength” of the chain meant it was “getting back on track” and expected full-year profits to be in-line with last year.
One analyst told BBC’s Today programme that it was reassuring that the main part of M&S’s business, homewares and fashion, only saw sales decline around 16%.
“Given that they were offline for most of the trading period and really only came back online for their click and collect in August, it’s pretty, pretty resilient,” said Judith MacKenzie, head of Downing Fund Managers.
She said it was “outstanding” that its food sales were up 7.8% over that time despite it being “a pretty horrendous period” for the company.
The fact that costs related to the attack were lower than expected was positive, said Lucy Rumbold, equity research analyst at Quilter.
M&S had earlier estimated that the attack would cost it around £300m.
On a call after the results, chief executive Stuart Machin said: “in May, we anticipated the material impact of the incident on group operating profit to be around £300m this financial year, and we are broadly in line with that”.
He said there were costs from managing the impact, including more IT staffing, and increased food wastage as the firm switched to manual processing during the cyber attack.
Ms Rumbold said there was a view from investors that the disruption caused by the hack “was a one-off”.
“Normal trading can therefore resume and the positive story M&S had going prior to the cyber-attack remains in place.”
M&S said in the second half of the year it forecast profits would recover to the levels seen in 2024, “as the residual effects of the incident continue to reduce in the coming months.”
Mr Machin said the firm was looking forward to a profitable Christmas period, and said sales were going well of its much-loved rose mulled wine, and men’s washable tuxedos.
While profits at M&S tumbled, other retailers have seen a boost in sales as people turned to them for shopping after the cyber attack.
Next continued to see sales overperform, with its latest results in October seeing a 10.5% increase in sales. However, that was not as good as earlier in the year when it had seen “exceptional performance” in the immediate aftermath of the M&S cyber attack.
A lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson has severed all connections with the peer.
Its chief executive, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, has also announced his departure.
The decision follows mounting pressure on Global Counsel over Lord Mandelson’s association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The firm confirmed that the former US ambassador no longer holds a stake in the business nor exerts any influence.
Mr Wegg-Prosser said he was stepping down as it was “time to draw a line” between the firm and Lord Mandelson’s “actions”.
Global Counsel added in a statement that it had reached an agreement to fully divest the peer’s shares, thereby ending all connections with him.
Its chair, Archie Norman, said: “With the completion of this process today, Peter Mandelson no longer has any shareholding, role or association with Global Counsel and has no influence over the firm in any capacity.”
Mr Wegg-Prosser said: “With the completion of the divestment of Peter Mandelson’s stake in the business, I feel that now is the time to draw a line between Global Counsel and his actions.
“I have nothing but immense pride in the business I founded and the work our amazing team deliver every day.”
He has been replaced as head of the firm by its managing director Rebecca Park, and his page on the company’s website has already been taken down.
Ms Park has also acquired the remaining shares that were held by Lord Mandelson.
Lord Mandelson co-founded the London-based firm with Mr Wegg-Prosser in 2010 after Labour lost the general election.
It is understood that Barclays has cut ties with Global Counsel amid the scrutiny.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador in late 2025 after it emerged that he had maintained ties with Epstein after the financier was jailed for a child sex offence.
Epstein killed himself in a prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on further child sex charges.
Business
Stock market today: Here are the top gainers and losers on NSE, BSE on February 6 – check list – The Times of India
Equity markets ended slightly higher on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India left interest rates unchanged, a move that was widely expected, and announced a proposal to allow banks to lend to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) under prudential safeguards.The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 266.47 points, or 0.32 per cent, to close at 83,580.40. The index recovered sharply in the final hour, jumping over 650 points from the day’s low of 82,925.35, helped by late buying in select stocks. The NSE Nifty also finished higher, gaining 50.90 points, or 0.20 per cent, to settle at 25,693.70 after a volatile session.
Nifty50 top gainers
| Company Name | Current Price (Rs) | Price Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITC | 326.35 | +16.20 | +5.21% |
| Kotak Bank | 422.35 | +13.60 | +3.33% |
| HUL | 2,424 | +69.80 | +2.97% |
| Bajaj Finance | 982.00 | +17.30 | +1.79% |
| Bharti Airtel | 2,023 | +30.60 | +1.54% |
| Power Grid | 292.80 | +3.45 | +1.20% |
| Titan Company | 4,141 | +43.20 | +1.06% |
| Bajaj Finserv | 2,021 | +20.70 | +1.04% |
| Shriram Finance | 1,001 | +9.00 | +0.91% |
| ICICI Bank | 1,408 | +11.50 | +0.83% |
Nifty50 top losers
| Company Name | Current Price (Rs) | Price Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC Life | 703.50 | -17.21 | -2.39% |
| Tech Mahindra | 1,616 | -30.21 | -1.84% |
| TCS | 2,940 | -51.20 | -1.72% |
| SBI Life | 1,987 | -31.00 | -1.54% |
| Tata Motors PV | 368.90 | -5.25 | -1.41% |
| Bajaj Auto | 9,519 | -129.00 | -1.34% |
| Adani Ports SEZ | 1,550 | -20.71 | -1.32% |
| Wipro | 230.40 | -2.99 | -1.29% |
| Eternal | 283.55 | -3.31 | -1.16% |
| Asian Paints | 2,405 | -27.10 | -1.12% |
Sensex top gainers
| Company Name | Current Price (Rs) | Price Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITC | 326.35 | +16.20 | +5.21% |
| Kotak Bank | 422.35 | +13.60 | +3.33% |
| HUL | 2,424 | +69.80 | +2.97% |
| Bajaj Finance | 982.00 | +17.30 | +1.79% |
| Bharti Airtel | 2,023 | +30.60 | +1.54% |
| Power Grid | 292.80 | +3.45 | +1.20% |
| Titan Company | 4,141 | +43.20 | +1.06% |
| Bajaj Finserv | 2,021 | +20.70 | +1.04% |
| ICICI Bank | 1,408 | +11.50 | +0.83% |
| Axis Bank | 1,342 | +11.00 | +0.83% |
Sensex top losers
| Company Name | Current Price (Rs) | Price Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tech Mahindra | 1,616 | -30.21 | -1.84% |
| TCS | 2,940 | -51.20 | -1.72% |
| Adani Ports SEZ | 1,550 | -20.71 | -1.32% |
| Eternal | 283.55 | -3.31 | -1.16% |
| Asian Paints | 2,405 | -27.10 | -1.12% |
| HCL Tech | 1,594 | -16.30 | -1.02% |
| Infosys | 1,506 | -14.50 | -0.96% |
| HDFC Bank | 941.00 | -8.71 | -0.92% |
| Trent | 4,095 | -36.31 | -0.88% |
| SBI | 1,066 | -7.50 | -0.70% |
Earlier in the day, markets had opened cautiously and slipped into the red before staging a modest recovery.On the policy front, the RBI’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee unanimously voted to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent. The central bank also retained its neutral stance, indicating it may stay on hold for now. The decision came as inflation remained under control and growth concerns eased following higher government spending in the Budget and reduced tariff pressures after a trade deal with the United States, news agency PTI reported.Announcing the policy, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “To further promote financing to the real estate sector, it is proposed to allow banks to lend to REITs with certain prudential safeguards.” Market participants said this move could improve long-term funding visibility for the real estate sector and the broader credit ecosystem.Among Sensex stocks, ITC was the top gainer, jumping over 5 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid and Bajaj Finserv also ended higher. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Eternal and HCL Tech were among the laggards.Commenting on the session, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments Limited, said domestic markets remained subdued for most of the day before recovering on the back of buying in FMCG and private banking stocks.“The RBI’s policy announcement was broadly in line with expectations, maintaining status quo on interest rates while reiterating a constructive growth outlook,” he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.However, he added that markets had expected a slightly more dovish tone. The RBI’s decision to retain a neutral stance led to a rise in India’s 10-year bond yields. Nair also pointed out that global investors remain focused on US-Iran negotiations, crude oil prices, and developments in artificial intelligence and technology.Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 2,150.51 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.In global markets, Asian indices such as South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower, while Japan’s Nikkei closed higher. European markets were mostly trading in the green. In the US, stocks had ended sharply lower overnight, with the Nasdaq falling 1.59 per cent.Meanwhile, Brent crude rose 1.20 per cent to $68.34 per barrel. On Thursday, the Sensex had dropped over 500 points, while the Nifty had declined more than half a per cent.
Benjamin Wegg-Prosser concluded his association with Lord Mandelson – and references to them both in the Epstein files – was doing the business Global Counsel harm.
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