Retail giant TJX Companies announced on Tuesday that it would take a $118 million charge to pay for the costs and potential liability stemming from the earlier theft of some 45.6 million credit and debit accounts.

The $118 million charge includes $11 million rung up during the investigation into the attacks in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2008, the company said in a statement. The remaining $107 million will be put into a reserve created to fuel the company's legal battles and pay any potential judgments, the retail giant said. The charges turned what would have been a 31 percent gain in profit, compared to the same quarter last year, into a 14 percent decline.

"We have continued to learn more about the computer intrusion(s) and are now able to estimate the Company's liability," CEO Carol Meyrowitz said in the statement. "Over the past months, we have worked diligently to further strengthen the security of our computer systems. Our customers remain our top priority, and I sincerely thank them for their support during this time."

The incident, announced in January, involved multiple intrusions into the company’s systems by online thieves between July 2005 and January 2007. By March, TJX had estimated the total number of credit and debit accounts compromised by the thefts at more than 45.6 million, but said that only about 15 million accounts were at risk. The company announced in May that it would take a $12 million charge to its first quarter profits. TJX levied the latest charge against its second quarter results.

In fiscal 2009, which ends January 26, 2009, the company will likely take $21 million in losses as a result of the computer intrusions and investigations, TJX said in its quarterly earnings statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The estimated charges would bring the total cost of the breach to $156 million through the company's fiscal year 2009.

UPDATE: The article was updated to clarify the dates of TJX Companies' fiscal year.