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The Co-op was hit by a "malicious" cyber-attack that has caused an £80million hit to profits after it was forced to shut down parts of its IT system back in April.

Customers faced gaps on shelves across the chains' 2,000 grocery stores, while its 800 funeral parlours had to operate some services via paper-based systems.

The Co-Op, which has stores in Birmingham , has now estimated that this resulted in a £206million loss in revenue, hitting profits to the tune of £80million in the first half of its financial year.

The group’s chief executive, Shirine Khoury-Haq, said: “The cyber-attack highlighted many of our strengths. But more importantly, it also highlighted areas we need to focus on – particularly in our food business.

“We’ve already started on this journey, refining

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