A damaging cyber attack that knocked out services at the Co-op has pushed it into the red, costing the member-owned business £206mn in revenues and denting profits.

It is the first time the Co-op has quantified the impact of the April cyber attack, which forced it to shut down systems to contain the threat and led to disruption and empty shelves in its 2,300 UK convenience stores.

In its half-year results, the Co-op said group revenues of £5.5bn were 2.1 per cent lower than the same period last year, but calculated that the figure would have been 1.5 per cent higher had it not been for the cyber attack.

Group operating profit and cash took an £80mn hit as a result, the company said, pushing it to a statutory pre-tax loss of £50mn compared with a £58mn profit in the same period last year.

Along with Jaguar Land Rover, which is grappling with the fallout from a cyber attack that has shut down production until next month, Co-op did not have dedicated cyber insurance and will therefore bear the brunt of the costs of the attack.

Co-op finance chief Rachel Izzard said: "Proactive action to protect the business led to normal systems and processes being interrupted and replaced by temporary procedures for a time. Considerable work has been undertaken to support the recovery, which impacted both financial and operational areas."

The supermarket business, which makes up the bulk of the group's operations, booked £3.6bn in revenues, down 1.6 per cent year on year, which would have been a rise of 2.9 per cent excluding the attack. The company also has funeral care, legal and insurance businesses.

The Co-op said it anticipated "continued cost headwinds" in the second half alongside competition from rivals and global market volatility as it manages "a reducing level of cyber impact".

Chair Debbie White said: "The first half of 2025 brought significant challenges, most notably from a malicious cyber attack. Our balance-sheet strength and the magnificent response of our 53,000 colleagues enabled us to maintain vital services for our members and their communities."

Rival UK retailer Marks and Spencer also suffered a breach in April in which hackers accessed customer data, resulting in a weeks-long shutdown of its IT systems.

Co-op takes £206mn revenue hit from cyber attack