Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has reported a pre-tax loss of £485 million for the three months to 30 September, a dramatic swing from a £398 million profit in the same period last year, after a cyber-attack forced the closure of its factories throughout September. The hack ended 11 consecutive quarters of profit for the carmaker.
The company incurred £196 million in exceptional direct costs addressing the hack, including hiring global IT expertise to restart its systems. Production has now returned to normal levels, with all plants at or approaching capacity, following a phased restart in October. The total financial impact is yet to be fully quantified, but the hack has been estimated to have cost the wider UK economy up to £1.9 billion and was blamed for dragging down quarterly GDP growth to 0.1%.
Outgoing chief executive Adrian Mardell said: 'JLR has made strong progress in recovering its operations safely and at pace after the cyber incident. In our response we prioritised client, retailer and supplier systems and I am pleased to confirm that production of all our luxury brands has resumed.' He added that the speed of recovery was testament to the resilience and hard work of colleagues.
The losses were also attributed to the impact of US tariffs under the UK-US trade deal, which briefly paused exports to the US, and the winding down of older Jaguar models. JLR confirmed that more than 150 prototypes of its new electric Jaguar have been completed, with testing continuing. The launch of new electric Range Rover and Jaguar models has been delayed until at least 2026.
Chief financial officer Richard Molyneux declined to give a single figure for the hack's financial impact, noting that some lost sales volume would be recovered and some would not. He confirmed that the investigation into the cyber incident remains live, with the company working closely with law enforcement. JLR has paid upfront for parts from 56 suppliers to prevent a cash crunch, and has drawn down £500 million from a separate £2 billion bank facility.
The government offered JLR a guarantee on a loan facility worth up to £1.5 billion, but the company has not drawn down any of that money. Business secretary Peter Kyle said the guarantee gave JLR space to focus on resumption, but added that the company should support its suppliers and that any distressed supply chain firms should contact his department.
