Marks & Spencer (LSE:MKS) reported its half-year results for the 26 weeks ended 28 September 2025, highlighting the financial impact of a major cyber incident and the company’s ongoing recovery and resilience initiatives. The retailer said it has received £100 million in insurance proceeds to partially offset cyber-related costs and has made cyber resilience a key element of its transformation strategy.
Adjusted profit before tax came in at £184.1 million, down 55.4% year on year, reflecting the one-off disruption caused by the cyberattack. Statutory profit before tax was £3.4 million. Group revenue rose 22.1% to £8.0 billion, supported by the first-time consolidation of Ocado Retail. The board declared an interim dividend of 1.2p per share, up from 1.0p.
Cyber Response and System Restoration
M&S said its “immediate response” to the incident included taking some systems offline “to protect customers, suppliers and the business.” Operations Director Sacha Berendji led the restoration programme, focusing on critical trading and customer-facing systems. The company confirmed that its online platform was fully restored in August.
Delivery of a new Fashion, Home & Beauty planning system has been accelerated, and further investments are being made in personalisation and loyalty initiatives. Adjusting items linked to the cyberattack totalled £101.6 million, while £100 million in insurance recoveries were recognised centrally.
The impact varied across divisions. In Food, M&S cited increased markdowns and waste due to manual stock allocation during recovery. In Fashion, Home & Beauty, the disruption was caused by a temporary pause in online operations from late April to early June, followed by a gradual recovery over the summer and additional stock management costs. M&S said these effects are now easing as systems return to normal.
Segment Performance
Food sales rose 7.8% to £4,531.9 million, delivering an adjusted operating profit of £89.1 million and a 2.0% margin. Fashion, Home & Beauty sales dropped 16.4% to £1,697.6 million, producing an adjusted operating profit of £46.1 million and a 2.7% margin. International sales fell 11.6% to £255.8 million, but adjusted operating profit improved to £13.3 million, a 5.2% margin.
Ocado Retail reported an operating loss before adjusting items of £3.1 million. Management noted early signs of stabilising demand in clothing and home as online trading recovered, while new store openings continued to outperform expectations. In Food, M&S highlighted an expanding customer base and an active pipeline of new and refurbished stores.
Balance Sheet and Outlook
M&S said it entered the second half of the year with a “strong balance sheet,” reporting net funds of £176.1 million excluding lease liabilities and total cash and liquidity exceeding £1.6 billion. Free cash flow from operations reached £2.53 billion. The interim dividend was raised to 1.2p per share in line with company policy.
The group reaffirmed its focus on cost control, supply chain investment, and technology simplification as part of its broader transformation programme. Management described the cyberattack as a one-off event that weighed on first-half earnings but emphasized that operations are now regaining momentum as systems and trading platforms are restored.
M&S said it is accelerating technology upgrades to simplify infrastructure and strengthen resilience, while continuing to invest selectively in value, product availability, and digital growth across both physical stores and online channels.
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