📅 Timeline of Events

• May 24, 2025: The company detected a “security incident” affecting its IT systems.
• May 26–29, 2025: As a precaution, they shut down the corporate systems and the U.S. e‑commerce site; the site remained offline for several days, disrupting in-store services at Victoria’s Secret and PINK locations.

🔧 Company Response

• Activated emergency protocols immediately, engaged third-party cybersecurity experts, and contained unauthorised access.
• Most corporate and in-store systems have now been restored; the e‑commerce website returned on May 29.

💰 Impact on Q1 Earnings

• The breach did not affect the first-quarter results, as the quarter ended May 3, before the breach.
• Preliminary Q1 figures:
  • Net sales: $1.35 billion (above the $1.30–1.33 b guidance)
  • Adjusted operating income: $32 million (exceeding the $10–30 million range)

🕒 Why Earnings Were Delayed

The recovery process prevented employees from accessing essential systems and data required for earnings finalisation, leading to the postponement of the originally scheduled June 5 earnings announcement.

🧾 Financial Ramifications

• Although Q1 performance is strong, the company acknowledged potential extra costs related to the incident, which may impact Q2 results.
• Some analysts called the downtime “a significant problem” during Memorial Day weekend, one of the highest-volume retail periods.
• Despite the disruption, shares rose ~2% in early trading, as preliminary results exceeded expectations.

🔍 Broader Context

• The attack echoes broader trends: Scattered Spider and other threat actors have recently targeted UK retail giants like Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Co‑op, Adidas, North Face, Cartier, and Dior.
• The suspected use of ransomware or social-engineering methods (help desk takeovers) has been noted in similar incidents.