PRC Approves Temporary Rate Adjustments for 2022 Peak Holiday Season

Global research and education leader Wiley today announced the asset purchase of eJournalPress (EJP), a leading provider of software and support services for scholarly publishing. With this investment, Wiley plans to drive the evolution of the technology and platforms that underpin research publishing and advance the future of research communication. EJP’s online manuscript submission, peer review, and journal production tracking systems deliver a comprehensive service for authors, editors and publishers to create, review and manage scholarly content as it moves through peer-review and gets published online. “Getting trusted, peer-reviewed research into the world requires both smart people and sophisticated technology,” said Jay Flynn, Wiley Executive Vice President and General Manager, Research. “By investing in the future of EJP, we will drive innovation in journal workflow and peer review management to deliver best-in-class solutions for our clients and partners.”

Costco Wholesale Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has reauthorized a common stock repurchase program of up to $4 billion. This program will expire in January 2027 and replaces the current $4 billion program (adopted in 2019 and scheduled to expire April 2023), under which approximately $1.4 billion had been purchased. The Board of Directors also declared a quarterly cash dividend on Costco common stock of 90 cents per share. The dividend is payable February 17, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 3, 2023. Costco currently operates 847 warehouses, including 583 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 31 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 14 in Australia, four in Spain, two each in France and China, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.

In a result no one in publishing would have predicted last spring when Covid-19 first hit the U.S., book publishing sales finished 2020 flat with 2019 based on year-end figures supplied by 1,354 publishers to AAP’s StatShot program. The two major trade categories, adult books and children/young adult, had gains of 12% and 6.4%, respectively, while the two big educational segments saw declines. With many public schools teaching remotely for long stretches of last year, sales of K-12 instructional materials fell 19.6% in 2020 compared to 2019. Sales of higher educational course materials declined 4.3% last year as many colleges and university turned to hybrid instruction, which changed buying habits by students.