Marks & Spencer Reports £355m Half-Year Profit After Cyber-Attack

Marks & Spencer reported profits of £355m for the six months to 26 September, up from £3.4m a year earlier, according to The Guardian. Total sales rose 16.2% over the same period, to £9.2bn. The half-year results were published on 4 November.

The figures come after a cyber-attack that began over Easter 2025. The attack forced the retailer to shut its clothing and homewares website for more than six weeks. Reuters reported that online orders resumed on 10 June 2025, after a pause of 46 days.

The company's clothing, beauty and homewares sales rose 17.5% to almost £2bn in the half year. Food sales increased by almost 14%, to £5.2bn. Its joint venture with Ocado reported a half-year profit of £25.6m, compared with a loss of £3.1m a year before, as sales rose 16%.

Marks & Spencer said it expected to cut £120m in costs this year across technology, logistics and stores.

The longer picture is more mixed. In the full year to 28 March 2026, the group reported adjusted profit before tax of £671.4m, down from £881.1m, according to its annual results. Second-half adjusted profit in 2025/26 rose 4.1% year on year. The company incurred £131.3m in costs related to the cyber-attack during 2025/26, Reuters reported, which also reported that the company expected its 2026/27 profit to exceed its 2024/25 level.

Earlier in the disruption, the company had forecast about £300m in lost operating profit for 2025/26 because of the hacking of its systems, Reuters reported in September 2025. In the first half of that year, underlying profit had fallen by more than 55%, as the attack's effects fed through the accounts.

Marks & Spencer describes itself as a British value-for-money retailer, with Food, Fashion, Home & Beauty, and Bank & Services businesses. It employs 63,000 colleagues and serves nearly 30 million customers a year.