February 2023 was an extremely complicated month for Canadian bookstore chain Indigo Books & Music, which was targeted by a high-speed cyber attack. As a result of the disruption, and in particular the fact that its website was offline for almost a month, the group posted an exceptional loss for the 2023 financial year.
Canadian group Indigo Books & Music Inc. has published its results for the 2023 financial year, which ended on 1 April. The fourth and final quarter was a major setback, with a ransomware attack in which data was held hostage by hackers who demanded a certain sum for its 'release'.
"The company's ecommerce platforms were temporarily shut down, with the full website only able to be restored after four weeks. The retail network was unable to process electronic payments for approximately three days, and experienced other operational disruptions that impacted the group's ability to meet demand." According to Indigo Books & Music Inc. 2023 Financial Report
The group says that its insurer has been contacted in an attempt to obtain cover for the damage caused by the cyber attack. The attack will have cost Indigo $ 5.2 million in repair and management costs, while the revenue lost as a result of technical interruptions has not yet been assessed.
A loss of 20.5 million $
The balance sheet for 2023 is not a rosy one for the Canadian group, which estimates a net loss of $ 49.6 million, a heartbreaker compared with last year's profit of $ 3.3 million. The financial statement also points to higher costs for inventories and international transport, as well as an "inflationary" environment.
Over the full year, sales nevertheless reached 1.058 billion $, compared with 1.062 billion $ in 2022. The Group's book-related transactions were particularly hard hit by the IT incident, with business down by 3.7 %, due to difficulties in maintaining stocks and meeting demand.
Indigo's financial report also announces the appointment of a certain Markus Dohle to the group's executive committee. For almost a decade he was CEO of Penguin Random House, one of the world's largest publishing groups.
Photo: Indigo boutique, Vancouver, Canada (illustration, GoToVan, CC BY 2.0)
Source : actuallite.com
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