The Estée Lauder Cos. has given an update on the cybersecurity attack.
Related Articles
Last month, it said it had identified a cybersecurity incident that involved an unauthorized third party gaining access to some of its systems. While it has not been confirmed, the ALPHV/BlackCat and Clop groups claimed credit for the cyber attack, listing Estée Lauder on their sites in the dark web alongside an airline, comms regulator, hard drive storage provider and others.
As a result of the breach, Lauder proactively took down some of its systems and began an investigation with a third-party cybersecurity expert. The company said it was also coordinating with law enforcement.
In a call Friday with analysts to discuss its fourth-quarter earnings, chief financial officer Tracey T. Travis said she believes the incident has been contained.
“After becoming aware of the incident, we proactively took down some of our systems. We began bringing our systems back online within days, which limited the incident’s impact on the company’s operations. Based on the information available to-date we believe the incident is contained,” she said.
As for its financial impact on the business, she stressed that the cybersecurity incident is not expected to have a material impact to net sales, but it is expected to be approximately 7 cents dilutive to earnings per share.
In the fourth quarter ended June 30, Lauder’s net sales came in at $3.61 billion, a 1 percent increase compared with $3.56 billion in the prior-year period and above Wall Street expectations for $3.48 billion.
Net loss was $33 million, and diluted net loss per share was 9 cents. On an adjusted basis, it was 7 cents per share, compared with Wall Street forecasts for a loss of 4 cents per share.