Marks & Spencer has reported half-year profits of £355m, up from £3.4m a year earlier, while revealing that the effects of last year's cyber-attack continued to disrupt its clothing business over the summer. The results exceeded City analysts' expectations as the retailer made a partial recovery from the incident.
Group sales increased 16.2% to £9.2bn in the six months to 26 September. The attack began over Easter 2025 and forced M&S to close its website, which sells clothing and homewares, for more than six weeks. More than a year later, the consequences were still affecting the availability of some products.
Sales and profits in clothing and homewares remained below their levels two years earlier. M&S said the need to order stock manually after the attack had disrupted availability for longer than anticipated. Buyers had been required to forecast demand and place supplier orders without their normal technology and detailed information. That left some clothing categories short of everyday items during the summer.
Chief executive Stuart Machin said the brand remained healthy and was attracting a broader range of shoppers, but the results had not reached their potential. He also linked pressure on profits to more customers buying online during the long, hot summer, as online orders carry higher fulfilment costs. Machin said the cyber-attack's effects had persisted longer than expected but were now behind the company.
Clothing, beauty and homewares sales rose 17.5% to nearly £2bn compared with the half year disrupted by the hack. M&S said it had increased its share of a shrinking clothing market despite the stock problems, although trading conditions remained difficult. With availability restored and a better balance between core products and seasonal lines, the retailer expects performance to improve in the second half.
The food business helped push overall sales and profits above analysts' forecasts. Its sales climbed almost 14% to £5.2bn as M&S opened seven stores and enlarged or refurbished others. The company said a £50m investment in lower prices and better quality had helped it gain market share in regularly purchased products, including meat, dairy and fresh produce.
The group's Ocado joint venture also returned to profit, earning £25.6m for the half year against a £3.1m loss a year earlier. Sales increased 16%, alongside improvements in delivery efficiency.
M&S expects to reduce costs by £120m this year across its technology, logistics and stores. Those savings would partly absorb additional expenses, including £35m associated with a new packaging levy.
