Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2020

Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged and has subsequently spread worldwide. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, resulting in federal, state and local governments and private entities mandating various restrictions, including travel restrictions, restrictions on public gatherings, stay at home orders and advisories and quarantine or isolation protocols for those who may have been exposed to the virus. In March 2020, the Company temporarily closed all of its stores, its online businesses, its distribution centers and its offices, with Associates working remotely where possible. In May 2020, the Company began reopening its stores with capacity constraints and reduced operating hours. By the end of the second quarter, more than 4,500 of the Company’s worldwide stores, and each of its online businesses, had reopened.

In response to increasing cases of COVID-19, a number of our stores have temporarily closed again. As of November 30, 2020, the Company has approximately 500 stores temporarily closed due to local government mandates, primarily located in Europe. The Company’s tkmaxx.com e-commerce business in the U.K. remains open. In the first quarter of fiscal 2021 the Company amended the credit agreements governing its revolving credit facilities and as a result, we expect to maintain compliance with our covenants for at least one year from the issuance of these financial statements. As the COVID-19 pandemic is complex and rapidly evolving, and cases have been rising around the world, the Company cannot reasonably estimate the duration and severity of this pandemic, which has had and may continue to have a material impact on our business, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Financial Actions

Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and Liquidity

During the third quarter the Company generated positive operating cash flows and ended the third quarter with $10.6 billion of cash. In addition, in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 the Company increased its borrowing capacity by entering into a new $500 million 364 Day Revolving Credit Facility, making a total of $1.5 billion available to the Company under revolving credit facilities. For additional information on the new credit facility, see Note J—Long-Term Debt and Credit Lines. Additionally, subsequent to the end of the third quarter, the Company issued $1.0 billion in aggregate long-term debt and commenced cash tender offers to repurchase up to $750.0 million combined aggregate principal amount of certain of its notes issued on April 1, 2020. For additional information on these transactions, see Note M—Subsequent Events. While the Company's Board of Directors did not declare a dividend in the first nine months of fiscal 2021, the Company expects a dividend of $0.26 per share to be declared in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, payable in March 2021, subject to the approval by its Board of Directors. The Company has and will continue to monitor its expenses, capital spending and shareholder distributions in the context of the current environment.

During the first nine months of fiscal 2021, we negotiated rent deferrals (primarily for second quarter lease payments) for a significant number of our stores, with repayment at later dates, primarily in fiscal 2022. Consistent with updated guidance from the FASB in April 2020, we have elected to treat the COVID-19 pandemic-related rent deferrals as a resolution of a contingency by remeasuring the remaining consideration in the contract, with a corresponding adjustment to the right-of-use asset, using the remeasured consideration. The Company did not reassess the lease classification and did not update the discount rate used to measure the lease liability. For additional information on cash flows for operating leases see Note A—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies. In addition to negotiating deferral of lease payments, the Company also temporarily extended payment terms on merchandise orders, which increased our accounts payable as of the end of the third quarter, benefiting our third quarter operating cash flows. We have reduced the length of our extended payment terms to more closely align with our typical business terms and as we make deferred payments, our operating cash flows are likely to be negatively impacted.

The Company evaluated the value of its inventory in light of the temporary store closures in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Permanent markdowns, which have been taken upon reopening of the stores, on transitional or out of season merchandise and merchandise that was already in markdown status, combined with the write-off of perishable goods, resulted in a reduction of approximately $0.4 billion in inventory for the first six months of fiscal 2021. Additional markdowns throughout the year were taken in the ordinary course of business operations.

TJX evaluates its long-lived assets, operating lease right of use assets, goodwill and tradenames for indicators of impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Given the substantial reduction in our sales and the reduced cash flow projections as a result of the temporary store closures during the first half of fiscal 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we determined that a triggering event had occurred in the first and second quarters of fiscal 2021 and that an impairment assessment was warranted for certain stores. This analysis resulted in an immaterial amount of impairment charges related to long-lived assets and operating lease right of use assets in the first nine months of fiscal 2021.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments in the U.S., United Kingdom (“U.K.”), Canada and various other jurisdictions have implemented programs to encourage companies to retain and pay employees who are unable to work or are limited in the work that they can perform in light of closures or a significant decline in sales. The Company continued to qualify for certain of these provisions, which partially offset related expenses. During the third quarter of fiscal 2021 the impact of these programs on our expenses was immaterial. During the nine months ended October 31, 2020, these programs reduced our expenses by approximately $0.4 billion on our Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss), and increased Accounts receivable, net on our Consolidated Balance Sheets by approximately $0.1 billion. These government programs also provide for the option to defer payroll tax and VAT payments, which has resulted in an increase in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets by approximately $0.3 billion.

The Company also incurred incremental costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including primarily from:

–Incremental payroll costs associated with monitoring occupancy limits to comply with social distancing protocols and implementing enhanced cleaning regimens.

–Incremental expense related to the discretionary appreciation bonus for store and distribution center Associates.

–Incremental cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment for our Associates.