Coop profit hit by £80 million pounds following cyber attack as shelves left empty

The Co-operative Group has reported a significant financial loss after a cyber-attack struck the retailer earlier this year, damaging both its reputation and bottom line. Profits at the mutual have been hit by £80 million in the first half of the year, after the attack forced the group to shut down parts of its IT systems and led to widespread disruption across its network of more than 2,000 grocery stores and over 800 funeral parlours.

The group was compelled to revert to paper-based systems for funeral services and faced significant gaps on supermarket shelves, frustrating customers across branches. The attack, described as “malicious”, cost the Co-op an estimated £206 million in lost revenue for the period and is forecast to wipe £120 million from full-year profits, inclusive of any insurance recovery. Revenues slipped by 2.1 percent to £5.5 billion, turning last year’s pre-tax profit of £58 million into a pre-tax loss of £50 million for the six months to 5 July.

Company chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq highlighted the need to address weaknesses in the food business which the cyber-incident exposed, vowing to refine the proposition for members and shoppers and make structural business changes. The group’s chair acknowledged the scale of the challenges faced, identifying the attack as the most significant event of the first half of the year.

The breach, revealed in July, resulted in the theft of data belonging to all 6.5 million Co-op members—including names, addresses and contact information—though financial details remained secure. Chief digital and information officer Robert Elsey confirmed that hackers gained access through social engineering, impersonating an employee and then attempting to re-enable blocked accounts once detected. The attack was described as both sophisticated and persistent, with internal systems shutting down compromised accounts within minutes.

The aftermath has not deterred Co-op’s ambitions. Plans are in place to open 30 new stores in the second half of the year, including the launch of a new “On the Go” format in Solihull, as the mutual seeks to strengthen its offer against rivals in convenience and food-to-go retailing. The group continues to manage the ongoing but reducing impact of the cyber-attack whilst pressing on with strategic expansion and business transformation.

Recent months have seen other major UK retailers similarly targeted, with Marks & Spencer and Harrods both falling victim to costly cyber-incidents. The situation highlights the increasing pressure facing retail brands to invest in both cyber-defences and customer reassurance measures as digital risks escalate.