Co-operative reveals ‘malicious’ cyber assault value retailer £206m in misplaced income

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra The Co-operative Group has revealed it plunged to a £75 million underlying pre-tax loss for the primary half of the yr, primarily resulting from an £80 million earnings hit from a "malicious" cyber assault in April.

This marks a big downturn from the £3 million revenue reported in the identical interval final yr.

The retailer confirmed that the cyber incident, which led to widespread disruption together with empty cabinets and fee points for buyers, impacted gross sales by an estimated £206 million.

This instantly contributed to the £80 million blow to earnings, a sum that additionally included £20 million of non-underlying one-off prices.

For the six months to July 5, the Co-op recorded a £32 million underlying working loss, a pointy distinction to the £47 million earnings achieved a yr earlier.

The group expects to face a unbroken, although diminished, monetary impression within the second half of its fiscal yr.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/08/21/14/26/co-op.png" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/08/21/14/26/co-op.png?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/08/21/14/26/co-op.png?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="The Co-operative Group has revealed it slumped to a half-year loss after taking an earnings hit of around £80 million from a “malicious” cyber attack in April" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

The Co-operative Group has revealed it slumped to a half-year loss after taking an earnings hit of round £80 million from a “malicious” cyber assault in April (Co-op) Debbie White, chairwoman of the Co-op, mentioned: “The primary half of 2025 introduced vital challenges, most notably from a malicious cyber assault.

“Our stability sheet power and the magnificent response of our 53,000 colleagues enabled us to take care of important providers for our members and their communities.”

The Co-op mentioned the hacking try was “subtle” however that it acted “rapidly and decisively to briefly shut down quite a lot of programs to include the risk”.

The group shut off elements of its IT programs after the assault, by which hackers accessed and extracted members’ private information.

It confirmed in July that each one 6.5 million members of the Co-op had their information stolen within the incident.

The group mentioned beforehand that the hackers created a duplicate of one of many agency’s information however had been unable to assault its platforms additional and set up deliberate ransomware.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/05/16/13/10/Co-op-cyber-attack-q5rnvrfa.jpeg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/05/16/13/10/Co-op-cyber-attack-q5rnvrfa.jpeg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/05/16/13/10/Co-op-cyber-attack-q5rnvrfa.jpeg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="A man walks past empty shelves in a branch of the Co-op in Manchester following the major cyber attack" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

A person walks previous empty cabinets in a department of the Co-op in Manchester following the most important cyber assault (PA) It mentioned efforts following the incident included strikes to maintain important providers working, equivalent to its funerals enterprise, whereas prioritising inventory to rural “lifeline” shops.

It additionally mentioned it supported impartial co-op societies and franchise companions to minimise disruption to them, whereas it provided its members a £10 low cost off a £40 store as a thanks for his or her assist all through the disruption.

Chief govt Shirine Khoury-Haq mentioned: “The cyber assault highlighted lots of our strengths.

“However extra importantly, it additionally highlighted areas we have to concentrate on – significantly in our meals enterprise.

“We’ve already began on this journey, refining our member and buyer proposition, making structural modifications to our enterprise, and setting our Co-op up for long-term success.”