Marks & Spencer has today said it is “regaining momentum” after a turbulent six months hit by a major cyber incident.
The company opened six new stores during the first half of the financial year, including the Aberdeen site, and plans a further 18 new or renewed stores before year end as part of its “Reshaping for Growth” strategy.
M&S is also investing £340million in a new automated food distribution centre and strengthening its technology foundations following the cyber attack in spring.
For the 26 weeks to 27 September, group sales rose 22% to £7.96billion, while adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £184.1million from £413.1m last year. The fall reflects the one-off impact of the cyber incident, which cost £101.6m, partly offset by £100m of insurance income. Statutory profit before tax was £3.4m.
Chief executive Stuart Machin said: “The first half of this year was an extraordinary moment in time for M&S. However, the underlying strength of our business and robust financial foundations gave us the resilience to face into the challenge and deal with it. We are now getting back on track.”
He added: “In the second half, we expect profit to be at least in line with last year. This should give us a springboard into the new financial year and set M&S up for further growth.
"The retail sector is facing significant headwinds – in the first half, cost increases from new taxes were over £50m – but there is much within our control and accelerating our cost reduction programme will help to mitigate this.”
Machin said the company’s plan “to reshape M&S for long-term sustainable growth is unchanged, our ambitions are undimmed, and our determination to knuckle down and deliver is stronger than ever.”