Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said: “Fiscal 2017 was a significant year for News Corp as we saw tangible improvement in profitability, powered by the fast-growing Digital Real Estate Services segment, and we charged a premium for premium content while focusing on operating efficiencies. News Corp led the global debate about content value and values, prompting the digital platforms to address a dysfunctional content eco-system, in which the fake and the fraudulent have flourished. We are now in advanced discussions with those platforms over the creation of payment mechanisms for news of verified veracity. HarperCollins posted higher EBITDA and margins this year through poignant books with broad appeal in the U.S., such as The Magnolia Story and Hillbilly Elegy. We believe that the emergence of digital audio and our expanding global footprint are potent sources of long-term growth. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Skyrocketing demand for boxes and packing materials during the pandemic has slashed paper production across North America, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for retail companies. “We’re starting to hear, ‘We’re out of paper,‘” said Polly Wong, president of San Francisco-based direct-marketing firm Belardi Wong, noting that some of her clients already missed their fall advertising campaigns due to issues at the printers. Ms. Wong estimates that 100 million catalogs will not be printed or reach U.S. homes in time for the year’s biggest spending season as a result. “It kind of put our industry up in a panic.” With some mills converting to cardboard to meet the spike in e-commerce deliveries and others shutting down altogether, more than 2.5 million metric tons of North American printing and writing paper capacity — or nearly one-fifth of 2019 levels — has come offline since the start of last year. more at source

For the Three Months Ended October 2, 2021 -Net sales increased 23% to $362.6 million, compared to $294.6 million during the same period last year. -Gross profit increased 19% to $207.0 million, or 57.1% of net sales, compared to $174.0 million, or 59.1% of net sales, in the third quarter of 2020. The 200 basis point decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by higher inbound freight rates and the unfavorable impact of the non-renewal of the Global System of Preferences (“GSP”) program on import duties, partially offset by product cost improvements and all other impacts. -Operating income decreased 2% to $68.7 million, or 19.0% of net sales, compared to $70.1 million, or 23.8% of net sales, during the prior year quarter due to the aforementioned lower spending levels in 2020.