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FedEx counts the cost of TNT virus attack
[ September 20, 2017 // Chris ]FedEx said that the NotPetya cyber attack that hit its newly acuired TNT Express arm had hit its sales by about $300 million in the past three months. However, all TNT’s main systems were now working again, although parcels volumes have been reduced, it said.
Parcel broker Fastlane International’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, added that while analysts had earlier estimated earnings of $3.09 a share because of the strong growth of e-commerce in the US, these had been reduced to $2.51 as the cyber-attack created significant operational challenges.
“Combined with the impact of Hurricane Harvey, this created a genuine ‘perfect storm’ for FedEx in its results.,” said Jinks.
But without the cyber-attack and hurricane, FedEx’s shares would have been worth about $3.32, which was actually higher than the most optimistic analysts’ predictions, and suggests strong underlying growth of international shipping and e-commerce, he argued.
He said: “NotPetya malware wasn’t a bug that could be fixed on payment of a ransom, instead it seems designed to cripple a whole country, Ukraine. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the international nature of TNT’s business meant it became collateral damage in an ongoing cyber war.
“TNT staff on the ground worked miracles to keep shipments moving and stem the backlog. The vast majority of TNT Express services resumed during the quarter – and all of its critical operational systems. TNT’s income has not yet returned to pre-attack levels – but FedEx is confident of its return to long term profitable growth.”