Several Jersey Local Papers Will Convert To Nonprofit Status (mediapost.com)

Urban Outfitters, Inc. announced net income of $41 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.41 for the three months ended January 31, 2022. For the year ended January 31, 2022, net income was $311 million and earnings per diluted share were a record $3.13. Total Company net sales for the three months ended January 31, 2022, were a record $1.33 billion. Net sales increased 13.9% compared to the three months ended January 31, 2020. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 14%, driven by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales, partially offset by low double-digit negative retail store sales primarily due to reduced store traffic. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 49% at the Free People Group, 14% at the Anthropologie Group and 3% at Urban Outfitters. Total Retail segment net sales increased 15%. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 22% primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers. Nuuly segment net sales increased by $11.3 million driven by the continued expansion of the number of subscribers since its launch at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2020. For the year ended January 31, 2022, total Company net sales increased 14.2% compared to the year ended January 31, 2020.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. announced that it has received authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Corpus Christi, Texas (the “Court”) to access its debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing, which includes $450 million of new money from its existing First Lien lenders. The Company had previously received approval to access and use its approximately $500 million in cash collateral. Under the terms of the DIP agreement, JCPenney has access to up to $225 million immediately, and will have access to an additional $225 million as needed after July 15, 2020, subject to certain conditions. In addition, the Company’s Ad Hoc Crossholder Group of lenders has agreed to participate in the rollup portion of the DIP in the amount of $53 million. Jill Soltau, chief executive officer of JCPenney, said, “We are pleased to have received Court approval to access $450 million in new money, $225 million of which will be drawn immediately. This is a positive step forward that will help us execute our Plan for Renewal and store optimization strategy, continue working seamlessly with our vendor partners, fund our ongoing business operations, and continue our focus on further developing the Company’s go-forward business plan to successfully restructure JCPenney. In recent weeks, we have safely welcomed back valued customers to nearly 500 JCPenney stores, and we look forward to opening additional stores while following guidance from local and state orders. This progress would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our associates, and we remain confident we will emerge from both Chapter 11 and this pandemic as a stronger retailer.”

The Home Depot® reported sales of $37.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of $9.2 billion, or 32.7 percent from the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 increased 31.0 percent, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 29.9 percent. Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 were $4.1 billion, or $3.86 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $2.2 billion, or $2.08 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2020. For the first quarter of fiscal 2021, diluted earnings per share increased 85.6 percent from the same period in the prior year.