Updates Made to the Manufacturing Standards and Specifications for Textbooks (MSST)

Urban Outfitters, Inc. announced net income of $29 million and $1 million for the three months and year ended January 31, 2021, respectively. Total Company net sales for the three months ended January 31, 2021, decreased 6.9% over the same period last year to $1.09 billion. Comparable Retail segment net sales decreased 7% due to negative retail store net sales as stronger conversion rates could not offset the reduced store traffic caused by the coronavirus pandemic and related occupancy restrictions. Lower store net sales were partially offset by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 6% at Free People and decreased 6% at Urban Outfitters and 11% at the Anthropologie Group. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 7%. For the year ended January 31, 2021, total Company net sales decreased 13.4% over the same period last year. Comparable Retail segment net sales decreased 11%, driven by negative retail store net sales due to mandated store closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and lower store productivity once opened, partially offset by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 40%.

Revenues were $2.57 billion in the quarter, down 8.1 percent or 6.4 percent in constant currency. Post sale revenue was 79 percent of total revenue. Second-quarter adjusted operating margin was 13.3 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from the same quarter a year ago. Xerox generated operating cash flow of $343 million from continuing operations during the second quarter and ended the period with a cash balance of $1.25 billion. The company returned $68 million in dividends to shareholders. Click Read More below for additional details.

HarperCollins Publishers announced a global commitment to becoming carbon neutral for its direct operational emissions in 2022. In order to meet this goal, HarperCollins has appointed award-winning sustainability strategy consultancy Brite Green to develop and implement effective sustainability strategies and targets. HarperCollins will initially focus on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, targeting on-site electricity and fuel energy usage. As part of the News Corp Global Environmental Initiative, HarperCollins is also working toward a goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions across its operational and supply chain by 2050 or earlier, in line with the Paris Agreement. “As a leading global publishing company, we have a responsibility to mitigate the impact of our business on the environment and to identify ways to improve the sustainability of our industry,” said Brian Murray, President and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers. “We have been successfully reducing our emissions and becoming carbon neutral in Scopes 1 and 2 is the next step in the process. We will continue to work toward our long-term targets and seek to reduce carbon emissions and their associated costs from our business overall.”