Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports Third Quarter and Year-To-Date Operating Results for Fiscal 2025

*Comparable sales increased 2.7 percent, on top of 12.7 percent growth last year. *Comparable sales growth was driven by 1.4 percent traffic growth and a 1.3 percent increase in average ticket. *Category performance was led by growth in frequency businesses including Beauty, Food and Beverage and Household Essentials, which offset continued softness in discretionary categories. *The Company saw unit share gains across all five core merchandising categories.*Third quarter operating margin rate of 3.9 percent improved meaningfully compared with the second quarter results, but fell far short of expectations.

The American Catalog Mailers Association, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Taxation, seeking to declare unconstitutional a new state law that improperly expands the Department's jurisdiction beyond the state's borders in clear violation of existing U.S. Supreme Court precedent. The ACMA intends to demonstrate that Ohio’s software “cookie” nexus standard for sales/use tax is in direct contravention of the extraterritorial limits on state tax authority under Quill v. North Dakota. The state is claiming that the mere presence of electrons placed on an Ohio computer pierces the longstanding "physical presence" test under Quill and subjects remote sellers to sales tax collection and other compliance obligations. “This is an egregious assault on out of state companies seeking to sell to Ohio residents and effectively presents a barrier to interstate commerce that cannot be left unchallenged,” said ACMA President Hamilton Davison. “We have no doubt the Ohio judiciary, in light of the well-established national precedent created by the highest court in the land, will overturn this illegal new law.” ACMA has filed this action just before the law’s January 1, 2018 effective date. Click Read More below for additional information.

Gannett Co., Inc. announced it will repurchase $14.0 million of 6.00% first lien notes due November 1, 2026 for approximately $12.0 million, representing a discount to par value. The transaction is expected to close on November 17, 2023. In connection with the repurchase of the 2026 Senior Notes, the Company will receive a waiver from certain lenders under its five-year senior secured term loan facility that will reduce the scheduled amortization payment for the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2023 payable to those lenders by the amount spent by the Company to repurchase the 2026 Senior Notes. "We continue to opportunistically take out additional senior notes below par value by working with our lenders, and this repurchase mirrors the executed agreement announced in mid-September," said Michael Reed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "With the closing of this transaction, and subsequent to the third quarter, we will have repaid $20.2 million of debt, which will bring our year-to-date total to approximately $138.0 million, which exceeds our initial projections outlined at the beginning of the year.