Investors will quiz Marks & Spencer’s bosses this week over its recovery from a devastating cyber hack last year.

At Easter last year hackers left M&S unable to sell online for nearly two months, leading some shoppers to turn to rival Next.

But chief executive Stuart Machin said last month that the attack had given the business ‘a renewed sense of purpose’ and profits will return to growth in the current financial year.

The group saw profits fall 24 per cent to £671 million due to disruption from the attack, which caused its fashion and beauty sales to plummet. Despite this, overall sales rose 2 per cent to £14.2billion for the year to 28 March.

Investors attending the retailer’s annual general meeting tomorrow may also ask Machin and chairman Archie Norman for their hopes over Ocado Retail.

The online grocery business, which is owned half by M&S and half by the robot technology firm Ocado, has seen an uptick in sales after including more M&S products on its website.

But investors are still concerned as the grocer has suffered from shoppers making a return to physical supermarkets since the pandemic.

Lale Akoner, global market strategist for investment platform Etoro said: ‘Investors will likely use the M&S AGM to test whether management can sustain the re-rating story after a strong set of full-year results, with particular focus on food momentum, the recovery path in fashion, home and beauty, and how quickly the business can return to normal after the cyber disruption.’