Marriott data security breach costs the company $28M so far

Marriott International says the data breach it disclosed last November has cost the company $28 million in expenses in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The hotel giant reported it as part of its earnings release for Q4 and full-year 2018, adding that it had “recognized $25 million of insurance proceeds” also related to the incident leaving $3 million in net expenses.

The data hack, which dates back to before the merger of Starwood and Marriott, affected 500 million customer accounts and was initially discovered in September 2018.

For Q4 2018, the company reported adjusted net income of $497 million, a 23% increase year-on-year.

EBITDA for the quarter was up 10% to $864 million.

Net income for the full year was $2.2 billion, representing a 38% increase on 2017, while EBITDA increased 11% to $3.5 billion.

Marriott International president and chief executive Arne Sorensen praised the team for “solid results in 2018” and the work to complete the integration of Starwood.

He also says the new loyalty brand, Marriott Bonvoy, which brought together previous Starwood and Marriott loyalty schemes, is leading to “meaningful benefits” for customers.