M&S website still down weeks after cyberattack

Some websites for M&S's international customers also appeared to be down on Thursday.

Many M&S stores out of the UK are run through franchise agreements or partnerships. For example, the brand operates in India under a joint venture with the retail arm of conglomerate Reliant Industries.

Following the cyber attack, M&S said some personal customer data was stolen in the recent cyber attack, which could include telephone numbers, home addresses and dates of birth.

The High Street giant assured customers that the data theft did not include useable payment or card details, or any account passwords, but added that online order histories could be included in the personal data stolen.

The attack took place over the Easter weekend, initially affecting click-and-collect and contactless payments. A few days later M&S put a banner on its website apologising that online ordering was not available.

M&S estimates that the cyber attack will hit this year's profits by around £300m - more than analysts had expected and the equivalent to a third of its profit - a sum that would only partly be covered by any insurance pay-out.

"Over the last few weeks, we have been managing a highly sophisticated and targeted cyber-attack, which has led to a limited period of disruption," said M&S chief executive Stuart Machin.