Marks & Spencer has reported resilient full-year results despite significant disruption caused by a cyber incident during the financial year, as the retailer continued investing heavily in stores, supply chain infrastructure and digital transformation.
For the 52 weeks ended 28 March 2026, M&S Group adjusted profit before tax fell 23.8% to £671.4m, while statutory profit before tax declined 28.8% to £364.6m. Group sales increased 24.8% to £17.4bn following the consolidation of Ocado Retail, while sales excluding Ocado rose 1.9%.
The retailer described the year as “a year of two halves”, with operational disruption from the cyber incident impacting the first half before second-half adjusted profit returned to growth, rising 4.1% year-on-year.
Food continues to drive growth
Food remained M&S’ strongest-performing business, with sales increasing 7% to £9.7bn as the retailer attracted more than 800,000 additional shoppers during the year. M&S said growth was driven by investment in value, quality upgrades, innovation and new larger-format food stores.
The retailer opened 12 new Food stores and three new full-line stores during the year, with additional openings planned for 2026/27 as part of its longer-term store rotation strategy.
M&S also continued expanding supply chain capacity to support long-term food growth, including investment into regional and national distribution centres in Avonmouth and Daventry.
Machin said Food had been the retailer’s “standout performer” as more customers chose M&S for “quality, innovation, and value”, adding that the business continues to outperform the wider market.
Fashion sales hit by online disruption
Fashion, Home & Beauty sales fell 7.7% to £3.9bn after the cyber incident temporarily paused online trading and disrupted stock flow and product availability. Online sales declined 18.4% across the year, although performance improved during the second half as website traffic and transactions recovered.
Despite the disruption, M&S said customer perceptions around style improved during the year, supported by womenswear range simplification, stronger menswear performance and growth across categories including lingerie and sleepwear.
The retailer is also continuing to modernise its fashion supply chain, including investment into a new automated distribution centre in Lichfield designed to expand ecommerce fulfilment capacity and improve operational efficiency.
Machin said M&S had “accelerated” supply chain improvements in Fashion, Home & Beauty through the acquisition of the fully automated Lichfield distribution site, which will help increase capacity and deliver new styles faster.
Investment in digital and personalisation continues
Alongside supply chain investment, M&S said it is continuing to invest in digital systems, ecommerce improvements and Sparks personalisation capabilities.
Near-term ecommerce improvements are focused on search, imagery, checkout and payments, while wider platform modernisation is intended to support faster operational change and online growth.
The retailer also highlighted selective use of AI across pricing, waste reduction and personalised customer offers as part of its broader operational efficiency strategy.
Its Sparks loyalty programme has also been relaunched with wallet-based rewards aimed at improving customer engagement and personalisation.
Cyber incident costs reach £131m
M&S confirmed the cyber incident cost the business £131.3m during the year, including £109.3m linked directly to systems response and recovery efforts.
Chief executive Stuart Machin said the business had emerged stronger despite the disruption.
“That was an extraordinary year. We were laser focused on our customers, worked incredibly hard to recover our business, and we came out stronger.”
Machin also said M&S had continued its transformation “at pace”, completing its “most ambitious year in a decade” for store openings and renewals alongside “significant advances in supply chain and digital capability”.
He added:
“Our job is to protect the magic of M&S while modernising the rest. We’ve now got the momentum to do that at pace.”
Transformation investment to increase further
Looking ahead, M&S said capital expenditure will increase to between £650m and £750m in 2026/27 as the retailer accelerates investment across stores, supply chain infrastructure and technology. Approximately two-thirds of planned investment will focus on Food.
The retailer also warned that higher fuel, freight and input costs, alongside increased taxation and regulatory pressures, continue to create headwinds for the wider retail sector.
Machin described the retail environment as a “triple whammy of headwinds” driven by increased taxation, regulation and ongoing global conflict, but said M&S remained focused on reinvesting in value and quality while continuing its long-term transformation strategy.
Despite this, M&S said it expects profit growth to resume in the year ahead as it continues its transformation programme.
An extraordinary year for M&S. We worked incredibly hard to recover our business and we came out stronger.
Stuart Machin, Chief Executive of M&S
Thank you to every customer who chose to shop with us – our aim is to serve you better every day, and keep investing in the value, quality and innovation you expect.
Our progress wouldn’t have been possible without our colleagues across every part of M&S. We faced the challenges together – sleeves rolled up – forging the culture we need to transform our business.
There’s an extraordinary opportunity ahead – and we’re on it.
