Walmart Reports Second Quarter Results

The United States Postal Service reported new delivery performance metrics showing the average time to deliver a mailpiece across the postal network remained stable at 2.7 days between the period Jan. 1 and Jan 21. The Postal Service continues to implement mitigation plans due to recent winter storms to move mail and packages effectively with First-Class Mail performance showing steady signs of improvement over the second week of January. Additional second quarter service performance scores covering Jan.1 through Jan. 21 included: *First-Class Mail: 86.9 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the fiscal first quarter. *Marketing Mail: 91.7 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 1 percentage point from the fiscal first quarter. *Periodicals: 80.6 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal first quarter.

Key highlights for the 12 months: *Group sales declined by 10% and we expect to report adjusted operating profit in the range of £310m-£315m at an average USD:GBP exchange rate of 1.28; with portfolio changes, inflation and the trading impact of COVID-19 partially offset by restructuring savings. *Global Online Learning sales grew 18% due to strong enrolments in new and existing schools in Virtual Schools and good sales growth in Online Program Management (OPM), with growth in continuing programs partially offset by discontinued programs. *Global Assessment sales declined 14%, reflecting the impact of test centre closures during the lockdowns in H1 in Professional Certification, with pent up demand in the second half partly moderated by Q4 lockdowns. Cancellation of Spring testing impacted US Student Assessment and school closures impacted US Clinical Assessment. *North American Courseware declined 13% with US Higher Education Courseware revenue down 12%, with good growth in digital registrations and eBooks and a further decline of higher priced package and print sales. At the end of 2020, over 70% of US Higher Education Courseware revenue was digital. *International declined 19% due to school and test centre closures and the continuing impact of COVID-19 on public and private spending on courseware and assessments.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for January 2022 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (Consumer Books), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses. Total revenues across all categories for January 2022 were up 3.7% as compared to January 2021, coming in at $1.3 billion.