Coop reports half-year loss after cyber attack and data breach

The Cooperative Group said on Thursday it swung to a half year loss after a malicious cyber attack in April that it says cost the retailer about 206 million in lost sales and disrupted operations across its food stores and services. The group reported an underlying pretax loss of 75 million for the six months to July 5, a reversal from a 3 million profit a year earlier, and said the attack contributed roughly an 80 million hit to earnings in the period.

Coop executives detailed how the infiltration of its IT networks in April led to payment problems, widespread stock shortages and the theft of member data. The group confirmed that all 6.5 million members had personal information accessed. Management said it moved swiftly to contain the incident by temporarily shutting down parts of its systems, and that the attackers impersonated staff to gain account access and copied one file, but did not install ransomware or further compromise platforms.

Debbie White, chairwoman of the group, described the first half of 2025 as bringing "significant challenges, most notably from a malicious cyber attack," and praised staff for maintaining services. Chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq said the...