Cyberattacks are no longer just disruptions to activity or reasons for reputational damage. They are now becoming true sources of financial problems for companies.
Just ask the British retail giant Marks & Spencer, which stated yesterday, Wednesday, that the action of hackers against their online network during Easter will cost them the equivalent of more than half of the 2024 operating profit: around 300 million pounds, that is, about 270 million dollars. This represents nothing less than 58% of the company's gross profit in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended on March 29. 2025 was a tough year for Marks & Spencer, as their results dropped by 24% due to accounting adjustments related to their joint venture with the online fresh food and technology solutions company Ocado.
The reason why cyber attackers have caused a 250 million hole in the accounts of the iconic distribution company is that the damages caused by the 'cyber pirates' have not yet been fully resolved, as evidenced by the fact that the company's online clothing sales unit will continue to have problems operating normally until the summer. The attack not only affected that activity; it also damaged stock management and increased security spending, and could cost the CEO of the company, Stuart Machin, 1.1 million pounds (1.3 million euros) in compensation.
This is due to the estimated impact on the share price, which has reduced the company's market capitalization by around 1.15 billion pounds, that is, almost 1.4 billion euros, representing the destruction of 13% of the company's value before the attack. When adding the impact of the stock price drop to his long-term compensation, the losses for the executive amount to around 2.4 million pounds (over 2.8 million euros).