Marks & Spencer has shared its results for H1 (to 27th September 2025), outlining the impact of the cyber attack it suffered earlier this year, plus the cost of recovery.
The retailer, which describes the past six months as "an extraordinary period", achieved an adjusted PBT of £184.1m (from £413.1m in 2024/25), reflecting "one-off impact of the cyber incident". Fashion, Home & Beauty sales declined by 16.4%, leaving an adjusted operating profit of £46.1m (the retailer stopped selling larger furniture items last year). International sales were down 11.6%.
Recovery has been slower in the retailer's Fashion, Home & Beauty division than its Food operation, "as systems complexity means it has taken time to smooth the flow of stock".
The PBT result was also partially offset by insurance proceeds relating to the incident, which the retailer recorded as insurance income rather than divisional profits – as well as new cost increases of over £50m for the Extended Producer Responsibility packaging levy and higher national insurance contributions.
“The first half of this year was an extraordinary moment in time for M&S," says chief executive Stuart Machin. "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.
"Change, on the other hand, is not a moment. Change is constant and that is why we are resolute in our ambition to reshape M&S for growth. During the half we accelerated our transformation with investment in our priority areas – opening 15 new or renewed stores in H1 and planning more than 20 for H2, strengthening our technology foundations, and confirming our new automated Food distribution centre, critical to modernising our supply chain and getting ahead of growth.
"Today, we are regaining momentum. In Fashion, Home & Beauty, the recovery curve has been slower than Food, but we are making progress every day.
"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. Our 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.
"To date we have achieved meaningful progress, but what’s exciting is that there is so much more to do and so much opportunity ahead of us. It’s all to play for.”
