Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
ITEM 2.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
General
This discussion and analysis is based on, should be read with, and is qualified in its entirety by, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes, as well as our consolidated financial statements and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations as contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2020. It also should be read in conjunction with the disclosure under “Cautionary Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this report.
Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has resulted in widespread and continuing impacts on the global economy and has affected our business, as well as our customers, suppliers, and other business partners. We have been classified as an essential business in all locations where we operate, and as such, our stores have generally remained open to serve our customers. In responding to the pandemic and its effects, our priority has been the health and safety of our employees and customers. In order to serve our employees and customers during this time while prioritizing their well-being, we have taken a variety of actions across our stores, distribution centers and store support center, including (as applicable): enhancing cleaning protocols, designating one hour each day for our elderly customers to shop our stores with limited crowds, implementing social distancing measures, providing personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, masks and hand sanitizer) for employees, providing employee temperature checks at our distribution facilities, and installing plexiglass barriers at registers.
In early March, we began seeing heightened demand from customers, particularly for consumable products such as paper, food and cleaning products, which continued throughout the first and second quarters, albeit with some variability as to the volume and category mix. Toward the end of the first quarter and throughout the second quarter, we also saw a significant increase in demand in many non-consumable products, including home, seasonal and apparel, resulting in an overall significant mix shift into non-consumable categories in the second quarter. From early March through the end of the second quarter, many new customers have begun shopping with us for their everyday essential needs, and we are working to retain them going forward. To address the increased demand, we increased our hiring of new store associates and have worked and continue to work with suppliers to incorporate new items in stores to meet the essential needs of customers while addressing certain product shortages and vendor allocations which we expect to persist for at least the remainder of the fiscal year in some cases. We believe that this increased customer demand significantly benefited our first and second quarters’ results of operations, and in particular, sales, gross profit, operating income and net income. Although we incurred additional payroll related expenses in the first half of fiscal 2020, including employee appreciation bonuses of approximately $73 million, increased distribution and transportation costs, as well as other costs to meet the significant demand and to protect the health and safety of our employees and customers, these costs were more than offset by the incremental sales. We anticipate these increased expenses will continue throughout fiscal 2020.
We expect to continue to be affected, although the extent and duration is unknown, by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy in a variety of ways, potentially including changing consumer demand (whether higher or lower) in certain product categories, supply chain interruptions, increased distribution and transportation costs, increased payroll expenses, and increased costs in an effort to maintain safe work and shopping environments. Additionally, the vast shutdown of many businesses in the United States has resulted in high levels of unemployment, which, along with current and potential school closures, could have a significant adverse impact on our core customers for an unknown length of time. The potential effect of economic stabilization efforts, including additional government stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits, is uncertain. In addition to the items described above, we expect the current adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue at least throughout 2020 and possibly longer, potentially resulting in continued elevated unemployment, reduced economic activity, and capital markets volatility. We may experience adverse effects on our business, results of operations and cash flows from a recessionary economic environment that may persist after the COVID-19 pandemic has moderated. As a result, the quarterly cadence of our results of operations is likely to vary from historical patterns.
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Due to the significant uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, there may be consequences that we do not anticipate at this time or that develop in unexpected ways. We will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to take actions as necessary to serve our employees, customers, communities and shareholders.
Executive Overview
We are the largest discount retailer in the United States by number of stores, with 16,720 stores located in 46 states as of July 31, 2020, with the greatest concentration of stores in the southern, southwestern, midwestern and eastern United States. We offer a broad selection of merchandise, including consumable products such as food, paper and cleaning products, health and beauty products and pet supplies, and non-consumable products such as seasonal merchandise, home decor and domestics, and basic apparel. Our merchandise includes national brands from leading manufacturers, as well as our own private brand selections with prices at substantial discounts to national brands. We offer our customers these national brand and private brand products at everyday low prices (typically $10 or less) in our convenient small-box locations.
We believe our convenient store formats, locations, and broad selection of high-quality products at compelling values have driven our substantial growth and financial success over the years and through a variety of economic cycles. We are mindful that the majority of our customers are value-conscious, and many have low and/or fixed incomes. As a result, we are intensely focused on helping our customers make the most of their spending dollars. Our core customers are often among the first to be affected by negative or uncertain economic conditions and among the last to feel the effects of improving economic conditions particularly when trends are inconsistent and of an uncertain duration. The primary macroeconomic factors that affect our core customers include the unemployment and underemployment rates, wage growth, changes in U.S. and global trade policy (including price increases from tariffs), and changes to certain government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Additionally, our customers are impacted by increases in those expenses that generally comprise a large portion of their household budget, such as rent, healthcare and fuel prices. Finally, significant unseasonable or unusual weather patterns can impact customer shopping behaviors.
We remain committed to the following long-term operating priorities as we consistently strive to improve our performance while retaining our customer-centric focus: 1) driving profitable sales growth, 2) capturing growth opportunities, 3) enhancing our position as a low-cost operator, and 4) investing in our people as a competitive advantage.
We seek to drive profitable sales growth through initiatives aimed at increasing customer traffic and average transaction amount. As we work to provide everyday low prices and meet our customers’ affordability needs, we remain focused on enhancing our margins through effective category management, inventory shrink reduction initiatives, private brands penetration, distribution and transportation efficiencies, global sourcing, and pricing and markdown optimization. Several of our sales-driving initiatives are also designed to capture growth opportunities and are discussed in more detail below.
Historically, our sales of consumables, which tend to have lower gross margins, have been the key drivers of net sales and customer traffic, while sales of non-consumables, which tend to have higher gross margins, have contributed to more profitable sales growth and an increase in average transaction amount. In recent years our sales mix has continued to shift slightly toward consumables, and, within consumables, slightly toward lower margin departments such as perishables. Although this trend did not occur in the first half of 2020 (as discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19”), we continue to expect some sales mix challenges to persist over the long term. There can be no assurance that our initiatives, including those discussed below, some of which are intended to address these trends, will be successful.
We continue to make progress on and invest in certain strategic initiatives that we believe will help drive profitable sales growth and capture long-term growth opportunities. As a result of positive early results, we are accelerating our investment and the rollout of certain of these initiatives. Such opportunities include leveraging existing and developing new digital tools and technology to provide our customers with additional shopping access points and even greater convenience. This technology includes our Dollar General app, which contains a variety of tools to enhance the in-store shopping experience. Additionally, we are continuing to expand the rollout of DG Pickup, which is a buy online, pickup in-store initiative aimed at offering another convenient access point for customers. Our non-consumables
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initiative, or “NCI,” is continuing to evolve and help shape our approach to non-consumable categories throughout the chain, offers a new, differentiated and limited assortment that will change throughout the year. As we extend this initiative more broadly, as well as incorporate certain related merchandising efforts throughout our chain, our goal is to continue to improve the shopping experience while delivering exceptional value within key areas of our non-consumable categories. Our goal is to have this offering in over 5,400 stores by the end of fiscal 2020.
We are continuing our rollout of the “DG Fresh” initiative, a self-distribution model for fresh and frozen products that is designed to enhance sales, reduce product costs, improve our in-stock position and enhance item assortment. By the end of fiscal 2020, we plan to operate up to ten DG Fresh distribution facilities, which will serve approximately 14,000 stores.
Tariffs on products from China, as applied to both our direct imports and domestic purchases, have not had a net material impact on our financial results. We believe we can continue to mitigate the potential sales and margin impact of such increased tariffs on our financial results in 2020 through various sourcing, merchandising and pricing efforts. However, as noted above, changes in trade policy that result in higher prices for our customers may negatively impact their budgets, and consequently, their spending, and additional increases in tariff rates or expansion of products subject to tariffs may have a more significant impact on our future business. There can be no assurance we will be successful in our efforts to mitigate the impacts of existing or future tariffs in whole or in part, including but not limited to any impacts on customer spending .
To support our other operating priorities, we remain focused on capturing growth opportunities. In the first half of 2020, we opened 500 new stores, remodeled 973 stores, and relocated 43 stores. Through the end of the second quarter, the COVID-19 pandemic has not resulted in a delay in our real estate plans, and we do not currently expect any significant delays based on what is currently known to management. For 2020, we continue to plan to open 1,000 new stores, and have increased our remodel and relocation plans to include 1,670 stores, and 110 stores, respectively, for a total of 2,780 real estate projects.
We continue to innovate within our channel and are able to utilize the most productive of our various store formats based on the specific market opportunity. We expect that our traditional 7,300 square foot store format will continue to be the primary store layout for new stores in 2020. We expect approximately 75% of the planned 1,670 remodels in 2020 to use a higher-cooler-count store format that enables us to offer an increased selection of perishable items, with the traditional store format being the primary store layout for the remainder of the real estate projects. Additionally, the majority of both new stores and remodels will incorporate higher-capacity coolers. The acceleration of remodels in 2020 and the increased usage of the higher-cooler-count formats is expected to allow us to capture additional growth opportunities within our existing markets. In addition, our smaller format store (less than 6,000 square feet) is expected to allow us to capture growth opportunities in urban areas. We continue to incorporate lessons learned from our various store formats and layouts into our existing store base. These lessons contribute to innovation in developing new formats, with a goal of driving increased customer traffic, average transaction amount, same-store sales and overall store productivity.
We have established a position as a low-cost operator, always seeking ways to reduce or control costs that do not affect our customers’ shopping experiences. We plan to continue enhancing this position over time while employing ongoing cost discipline to reduce certain expenses as a percentage of sales. Nonetheless, we seek to maintain flexibility to invest in the business as necessary to enhance our long-term profitability. We have experienced incremental costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic as discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19” and following.
We also have launched “Fast Track”, an initiative aimed at further enhancing our convenience proposition and in-stock position as well as increasing labor productivity within our stores. The first phase of Fast Track involved sorting process optimization within our distribution centers, as well as increased shelf-ready packaging, to allow for greater store-level stocking efficiencies, followed by the second-phase pilot of a self-checkout option in a limited number of stores. We have completed the sorting process optimization at all of our non-refrigerated distribution centers. Additionally, we have introduced self-checkout in a select number of stores. These and certain other strategic initiatives will require us to incur upfront expenses for which, in some respects, there may not be an immediate or acceptable return in terms of sales or enhanced profitability.
Certain of our operating expenses, such as wage rates and occupancy costs, have continued to increase in recent years, due primarily to market forces. While we expect these increases to persist, certain of our initiatives and plans are
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intended to help offset these challenges, although there can be no assurance we will be successful in mitigating them. We have experienced incremental payroll, distribution and transportation costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic as discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19”.
Our employees are a competitive advantage, and we proactively seek ways to continue investing in them. Our goal is to create an environment that attracts and retains talented personnel, particularly at the store level, because employees who are promoted from within our company generally have longer tenures and are greater contributors to improvements in our financial performance. We believe our investments in compensation and training for our store managers have contributed to improved customer experience scores, higher sales and improved turnover metrics.
To further enhance shareholder returns, we repurchased shares of our common stock and paid quarterly cash dividends in the second quarter of 2020. We resumed repurchases under our share repurchase program after temporarily suspending repurchases during the first quarter of 2020 to evaluate the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. We intend to continue our share repurchase activity, and to pay quarterly cash dividends, throughout the remainder of 2020, subject to Board discretion and approval.
We utilize key performance indicators (“KPIs”) in the management of our business. Our KPIs include same-store sales, average sales per square foot, and inventory turnover. Same-store sales are calculated based upon stores that were open at least 13 full fiscal months and remain open at the end of the reporting period. We include stores that have been remodeled, expanded or relocated in our same-store sales calculation. Changes in same-store sales are calculated based on the comparable 52 calendar weeks in the current and prior years. Net sales per square foot is calculated based on total sales for the preceding 12 months as of the ending date of the reporting period divided by the average selling square footage during the period, including the end of the fiscal year, the beginning of the fiscal year, and the end of each of our three interim fiscal quarters. Inventory turnover is calculated based on total cost of goods sold for the preceding four quarters divided by the average inventory balance as of the ending date of the reporting period, including the end of the fiscal year, the beginning of the fiscal year, and the end of each of our three interim fiscal quarters. Each of these measures is commonly used by investors in retail companies to measure the health of the business. We use these measures to maximize profitability and for decisions about the allocation of resources.
A continued focus on our four operating priorities as discussed above, coupled with pandemic-related sales and other impacts (more fully discussed below), along with strong cash flow management resulted in strong overall operating and financial performance in the 2020 period as compared to the 2019 period, as set forth below.
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Highlights of our 2020 second quarter results of operations compared to the 2019 second quarter and our financial condition at July 31, 2020 are set forth below. Basis points amounts referred to below are equal to 0.01% as a percentage of net sales.
● Net sales increased 24.4% to $8.68 billion. Sales in same-stores increased 18.8% primarily reflecting a substantial increase in items per transaction. Average sales per square foot for all stores over the 52-week period ended July 31, 2020 was $260.
● Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, was 32.5% in the 2020 period and 30.8% in the 2019 period, an increase of 167 basis points, primarily reflecting higher initial inventory markups, a significant increase in sales of non-consumable products, and favorable markdowns.
● SG&A expense, as a percentage of net sales, was 20.4% in the 2020 period compared to 22.5% in the 2019 period, a decrease of 205 basis points, due in part to lower retail labor, occupancy and utilities costs as a percentage of net sales.
● Operating profit increased 80.5% to $1.04 billion in the 2020 period compared to $0.58 billion in the 2019 period.
● Interest expense increased by $14.5 million in the 2020 period primarily due to higher average outstanding debt balances in connection with the issuance of debt in the first quarter of 2020.
● The effective income tax rate for the 2020 period was 21.5% compared to a rate of 22.9% for the 2019 period primarily due to income tax benefits associated with share-based compensation.
● Net income was $787.6 million, or $3.12 per diluted share, in the 2020 period compared to net income of $426.6 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, in the 2019 period.
Highlights of the year-to-date period of 2020 include:
● Cash generated from operating activities was $2.91 billion for the 2020 period, an increase of $1.78 billion over the comparable 2019 period.
● Total cash dividends of $180.3 million, or $0.72 per share, were paid during the 2020 period, compared to $165.1 million, or $0.64 per share, in the comparable 2019 period.
● Inventory turnover was 4.9 times on a rolling four-quarter basis. On a per store basis, inventories at July 31, 2020 decreased by 5.9% compared to the balances at August 2, 2019.
The above discussion is a summary only. Readers should refer to the detailed discussion of our results of operations below in the current year periods as compared with the prior year periods as well as our financial condition at July 31, 2020.
Results of Operations
Accounting Periods . We utilize a 52-53 week fiscal year convention that ends on the Friday nearest to January 31. The following text contains references to years 2020 and 2019, which represent the 52-week fiscal years ending or ended January 29, 2021 and January 31, 2020, respectively. References to the second quarter accounting periods for 2020 and 2019 contained herein refer to the 13-week accounting periods ended July 31, 2020 and August 2, 2019, respectively.
Seasonality. The nature of our business is somewhat seasonal. Primarily because of sales of Christmas-related merchandise, operating profit in our fourth quarter (November, December and January) has historically been higher than operating profit in each of the first three quarters of the fiscal year. Expenses, and to a greater extent operating profit, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of our business may affect comparisons between periods. Consumer behavior driven by
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the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a departure from seasonal norms we have experienced in recent years and may continue to disrupt the historical quarterly cadence of our results of operations for an unknown period of time.
The following table contains results of operations data for the second 13-week periods and the 26-week periods of 2020 and 2019, and the dollar and percentage variances among those periods:
13 Weeks Ended
2020 vs. 2019
26 Weeks Ended
2020 vs. 2019
(amounts in millions, except
July 31,
August 2,
Amount
%
July 31,
August 2,
Amount
%
per share amounts)
2020
2019
Change
Change
2020
2019
Change
Change
Net sales by category:
Consumables
$
6,496.4
$
5,428.0
$
1,068.3
19.7
%
$
13,199.8
$
10,641.2
$
2,558.6
24.0
%
% of net sales
74.81
%
77.75
%
77.04
%
78.22
%
Seasonal
1,161.6
854.1
307.5
36.0
2,079.5
1,591.1
488.5
30.7
% of net sales
13.38
%
12.23
%
12.14
%
11.69
%
Home products
586.0
375.1
211.0
56.2
1,084.3
750.8
333.5
44.4
% of net sales
6.75
%
5.37
%
6.33
%
5.52
%
Apparel
440.3
324.6
115.7
35.6
769.1
621.9
147.1
23.7
% of net sales
5.07
%
4.65
%
4.49
%
4.57
%
Net sales
$
8,684.2
$
6,981.8
$
1,702.5
24.4
%
$
17,132.7
$
13,604.9
$
3,527.8
25.9
%
Cost of goods sold
5,866.0
4,832.8
1,033.2
21.4
11,718.8
9,453.7
2,265.0
24.0
% of net sales
67.55
%
69.22
%
68.40
%
69.49
%
Gross profit
2,818.2
2,148.9
669.3
31.1
5,413.9
4,151.2
1,262.7
30.4
% of net sales
32.45
%
30.78
%
31.60
%
30.51
%
Selling, general and administrative expenses
1,775.6
1,571.2
204.4
13.0
3,504.5
3,061.2
443.3
14.5
% of net sales
20.45
%
22.50
%
20.46
%
22.50
%
Operating profit
1,042.6
577.8
464.9
80.5
1,909.4
1,090.0
819.4
75.2
% of net sales
12.01
%
8.28
%
11.14
%
8.01
%
Interest expense
39.3
24.8
14.5
58.5
69.8
50.7
19.1
37.6
% of net sales
0.45
%
0.36
%
0.41
%
0.37
%
Income before income taxes
1,003.3
553.0
450.3
81.4
1,839.6
1,039.3
800.3
77.0
% of net sales
11.55
%
7.92
%
10.74
%
7.64
%
Income tax expense
215.7
126.4
89.3
70.6
401.5
227.7
173.8
76.3
% of net sales
2.48
%
1.81
%
2.34
%
1.67
%
Net income
$
787.6
$
426.6
$
361.0
84.6
%
$
1,438.0
$
811.6
$
626.5
77.2
%
% of net sales
9.07
%
6.11
%
8.39
%
5.97
%
Diluted earnings per share
$
3.12
$
1.65
$
1.47
89.1
%
$
5.69
$
3.13
$
2.56
81.8
%
13 WEEKS ENDED JULY 31, 2020 AND AUGUST 2, 2019
Net Sales . The net sales increase in the 2020 period reflects a same-store sales increase of 18.8% compared to the 2019 period. We believe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior had a significant positive effect on net sales and same-store sales. For the 2020 period, there were 15,541 same-stores which accounted for sales of $8.2 billion. The increase in same-store sales reflects an increase in average transaction amount driven by a significant increase in items per transaction and, to a lesser degree, higher average item retail prices, which were slightly offset by a decline in customer traffic. Same-store sales increased in each of the consumables, seasonal, home products and apparel categories, with the largest percentage increase in the home products category. The net sales increase was also positively affected by sales from new stores, modestly offset by sales from closed stores.
Gross Profit. For the 2020 period, gross profit increased by 31.1%, and as a percentage of net sales increased by 167 basis points to 32.5% compared to the 2019 period. Higher initial markups on inventory purchases contributed to the increase in the gross profit rate. In recent years a greater proportion of sales have come from our consumables category, which generally has a lower gross profit rate than our other product categories, creating downward pressure on our overall gross profit rate. This sales trend was reversed in the second quarter of 2020 as non-consumables sales increased at a higher rate than consumables sales, which added to the increase in the gross profit rate. It is uncertain at this time whether the reversal of this trend will continue. A reduction in markdowns as a percentage of net sales also contributed to the increase in the gross profit rate. These factors were partially offset by increased distribution and transportation costs which were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of increased volume and discretionary employee bonus expense. As noted above, we believe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior had a significant positive effect on net sales, and also had a positive effect on gross profit.
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Selling, General & Administrative Expenses (“SG&A”). SG&A was 20.4% as a percentage of net sales in the 2020 period compared to 22.5% in the comparable 2019 period, a decrease of 205 basis points. Although we incurred certain incremental costs discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19,” they were more than offset by the significant increase in net sales during the quarter as discussed above. Among the expenses that were a lower percentage of net sales in the current year period were retail labor, occupancy costs, utilities, employee benefits, depreciation and amortization, and taxes and licenses. These items were partially offset by increased incentive compensation and charitable giving expenses. We recorded expenses of $31.0 million, or 44 basis points, in the 2019 period reflecting our estimate for the settlement of certain legal matters discussed in Note 7 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.
Interest Expense . Interest expense increased by $14.5 million to $39.3 million in the 2020 period primarily due to higher average outstanding debt balances in connection with the issuance of debt during the first quarter of 2020. See Liquidity and Capital Resources.
Income Taxes. The effective income tax rate for the 2020 period was 21.5% compared to a rate of 22.9% for the 2019 period which represents a net decrease of 1.4 percentage points. The tax rate for the 2020 period was lower than the comparable 2019 period primarily due to increased tax benefits associated with share-based compensation, partially offset by a lower income tax rate benefit from federal income tax credits due to higher pre-tax earnings in the 2020 period compared to the 2019 period. In addition, the tax rate in the 2020 period was lower than in the 2019 period due to increased income tax expense associated with prior state law changes that occurred in the 2019 period that did not reoccur in the 2020 period .
26 WEEKS ENDED JULY 31, 2020 AND AUGUST 2, 2019
Net Sales. The net sales increase in the 2020 period reflects a same-store sales increase of 20.2% compared to the 2019 period. For the 2020 period, there were 15,541 same-stores which accounted for sales of $16.2 billion. The increase in same-store sales reflects an increase in average transaction amount driven by a significant increase in items per transaction and, to a lesser degree, higher average item retail prices, which were slightly offset by a decline in customer traffic. Same-store sales increased in each of the consumables, seasonal, home products and apparel categories, with the largest percentage increase in the home products category. The net sales increase was also positively affected by sales from new stores, modestly offset by sales from closed stores.
Gross Profit. For the 2020 period, gross profit increased by 30.4%, and as a percentage of net sales increased by 109 basis points to 31.6% compared to the 2019 period. A reduction in markdowns as a percentage of net sales and higher initial markups on inventory purchases each contributed to the increase in the gross profit rate. In addition, non-consumables sales increased at a higher rate than consumables sales in the 2020 period, which added to the increase in the gross profit rate. It is uncertain at this time whether the reversal of this trend will continue. These factors were partially offset by increased distribution costs which were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of increased volume and discretionary employee bonus expense. As noted above, we believe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior had a significant positive effect on net sales, and also had a positive effect on gross profit.
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses. SG&A was 20.5% as a percentage of net sales in the 2020 period compared to 22.5% in the comparable 2019 period, a decrease of 204 basis points. Although we incurred certain incremental costs discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19,” they were more than offset by the significant increase in net sales during the quarter as discussed above. Among the expenses that were a lower percentage of net sales in the current year period were occupancy costs, retail labor, utilities, depreciation and amortization, taxes and licenses, and employee benefits. These items were partially offset by increased incentive compensation expenses. We recorded expenses of $31.0 million, or 23 basis points, in the 2019 period reflecting our estimate for the settlement of certain legal matters discussed in Note 7 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.
Interest Expense . Interest expense increased by $19.1 million to $69.8 million in the 2020 period primarily due to higher outstanding debt balances in connection with the issuance of debt in the 2020 period.
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Income Taxes. The effective income tax rate for the 2020 period was 21.8% compared to a rate of 21.9% for the 2019 period which represents a net decrease of 0.1 percentage points. The tax rate for the 2020 period was lower than the comparable 2019 period primarily due to increased tax benefits associated with share-based compensation, partially offset by a lower income tax rate benefit from federal income tax credits due to higher pre-tax earnings in the 2020 period compared to the 2019 period.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
At July 31, 2020, we had a $1.25 billion unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Revolving Facility”), $4.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes, and a commercial paper program that may provide borrowing availability in the form of commercial paper notes (“CP Notes”) of up to $1.0 billion. On April 3, 2020 we issued $1.5 billion in senior notes and at July 31, 2020, we had total consolidated outstanding long-term obligations of $4.1 billion, most of which was in the form of senior notes. All of our borrowing agreements are described in greater detail below. Our borrowing availability under the Revolving Facility may be effectively limited by our CP Notes as further described below.
At July 31, 2020, we had a total consolidated cash balance of $3.0 billion . The increase in cash and cash equivalents was driven primarily by our issuance of $1.5 billion of senior unsecured notes in April 2020 as we sought to strengthen liquidity as a result of uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We believe our cash flow from operations and existing cash balances, combined with availability under the Revolving Facility, the CP Notes and access to the debt markets will provide sufficient liquidity to fund our current obligations, projected working capital requirements, capital spending, anticipated dividend payments and share repurchases for a period that includes the next twelve months as well as the next several years. However, our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity may be affected by numerous factors, many of which are outside of our control. Depending on our liquidity levels, conditions in the capital markets and other factors, we may from time to time consider the issuance of debt, equity or other securities, the proceeds of which could provide additional liquidity for our operations.
For the remainder of fiscal 2020, we anticipate potential combined borrowings under the Revolving Facility and our CP Notes to be a maximum of approximately $300 million outstanding at any one time, including any anticipated borrowings to fund repurchases of common stock.
Revolving Credit Facility
On September 10, 2019, we entered into an amended and restated credit agreement consisting of the $1.25 billion Revolving Facility of which up to $175.0 million is available for the issuance of letters of credit and which is scheduled to mature on September 10, 2024.
Borrowings under the Revolving Facility bear interest at a rate equal to an applicable interest rate margin plus, at our option, either (a) LIBOR or (b) a base rate (which is usually equal to the prime rate). The applicable interest rate margin for borrowings as of July 31, 2020 was 1.015% for LIBOR borrowings and 0.015% for base-rate borrowings. We must also pay a facility fee, payable on any used and unused commitment amounts of the Revolving Facility, and customary fees on letters of credit issued under the Revolving Facility. As of July 31, 2020, the facility fee rate was 0.11%. The applicable interest rate margins for borrowings, the facility fees and the letter of credit fees under the Revolving Facility are subject to adjustment from time to time based on our long-term senior unsecured debt ratings.
The Revolving Facility contains a number of customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our (including our subsidiaries’) ability to: incur additional liens; sell all or substantially all of our assets; consummate certain fundamental changes or change in our lines of business; and incur additional subsidiary indebtedness. The Revolving Facility also contains financial covenants that require the maintenance of a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a maximum leverage ratio. As of July 31, 2020, we were in compliance with all such covenants. The Revolving Facility also contains customary events of default.
As of July 31, 2020, under the Revolving Facility, we had no outstanding borrowings, outstanding letters of credit of $4.8 million, and borrowing availability of approximately $1.25 billion that, due to our intention to maintain borrowing availability related to the commercial paper program described below, could contribute incremental liquidity
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of $1.06 billion at July 31, 2020. In addition, as of July 31, 2020 we had outstanding letters of credit of $53.9 million which were issued pursuant to separate agreements.
Commercial Paper
As of July 31, 2020, our condensed consolidated balance sheet reflected no outstanding unsecured CP Notes. CP Notes totaling $181.0 million were held by a wholly-owned subsidiary and are therefore not reflected on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. We may issue the CP Notes from time to time in an aggregate amount not to exceed $1.0 billion outstanding at any time. The CP Notes may have maturities of up to 364 days from the date of issue and rank equal in right of payment with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. We intend to maintain available commitments under the Revolving Facility in an amount at least equal to the amount of CP Notes outstanding at any time.
Senior Notes
In April 2013 we issued $900.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.25% senior notes due 2023 (the “2023 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $2.4 million, which are scheduled to mature on April 15, 2023. In October 2015 we issued $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.150% senior notes due 2025 (the “2025 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $0.8 million, which are scheduled to mature on November 1, 2025. In April 2017 we issued $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.875% senior notes due 2027 (the “2027 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $0.4 million, which are scheduled to mature on April 15, 2027. In April 2018 we issued $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.125% senior notes due 2028 (the “2028 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $0.5 million, which are scheduled to mature on May 1, 2028. In April 2020 we issued $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.5% senior notes due 2030 (the “2030 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $0.7 million, which are scheduled to mature on April 3, 2030, and $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.125% senior notes due 2050 (the “2050 Senior Notes”) at a discount of $5.0 million, which are scheduled to mature on April 3, 2050. Collectively, the 2023 Senior Notes, 2025 Senior Notes, 2027 Senior Notes, 2028 Senior Notes, 2030 Senior Notes and 2050 Senior Notes comprise the “Senior Notes”, each of which were issued pursuant to an indenture as supplemented and amended by supplemental indentures relating to each series of Senior Notes (as so supplemented and amended, the “Senior Indenture”). Interest on the 2023 Senior Notes and the 2027 Senior Notes is payable in cash on April 15 and October 15 of each year. Interest on the 2025 and 2028 Senior Notes is payable in cash on May 1 and November 1 of each year. Interest on the 2030 and 2050 Senior Notes is payable in cash on April 3 and October 3 of each year, commencing on October 3, 2020.
We may redeem some or all of the Senior Notes at any time at redemption prices set forth in the Senior Indenture. Upon the occurrence of a change of control triggering event, which is defined in the Senior Indenture, each holder of our Senior Notes has the right to require us to repurchase some or all of such holder’s Senior Notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the repurchase date.
The Senior Indenture contains covenants limiting, among other things, our ability (subject to certain exceptions) to consolidate, merge, or sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets; and our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to incur or guarantee indebtedness secured by liens on any shares of voting stock of significant subsidiaries.
The Senior Indenture also provides for events of default which, if any of them occurs, would permit or require the principal of and accrued interest on our Senior Notes to become or to be declared due and payable, as applicable.
Current Financial Condition / Recent Developments
Our inventory balance represented approximately 39% of our total assets exclusive of goodwill, operating lease assets, and other intangible assets as of July 31, 2020. Such percentage is lower than we have experienced in recent years and is reflective of changes in consumer behavior and, to a lesser extent, supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ability to effectively manage our inventory balances can have a significant impact on our cash flows from operations during a given fiscal year. Inventory purchases are often somewhat seasonal in nature, such as the purchase of warm-weather or Christmas-related merchandise. Efficient management of our inventory has been and continues to be an area of focus for us.
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As described in Note 7 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, we are involved in a number of legal actions and claims, some of which could potentially result in material cash payments. Adverse developments in those actions could materially and adversely affect our liquidity.
Our senior unsecured debt is rated “Baa2,” by Moody’s with a stable outlook and “BBB” by Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook, and our commercial paper program is rated “P-2” by Moody’s and “A-2” by Standard and Poor’s. Our current credit ratings, as well as future rating agency actions, could (i) impact our ability to finance our operations on satisfactory terms; (ii) affect our financing costs; and (iii) affect our insurance premiums and collateral requirements necessary for our self-insured programs. There can be no assurance that we will maintain or improve our current credit ratings.
Unless otherwise noted, all references to the 2020 and 2019 periods in the discussion of cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities below refer to the 26-week periods ended July 31, 2020 and August 2, 2019, respectively.
Cash flows from operating activities. Cash flows from operating activities were $2.91 billion in the 2020 period, which represents a $1.78 billion increase compared to the 2019 period. Net income increased by $626.5 million in the 2020 period over the 2019 period. Changes in merchandise inventories resulted in a $284.0 million increase in the 2020 period as compared to a decrease of $321.1 million in the 2019 period and is reflective of the COVID-19 pandemic effects discussed above under “Impact of COVID-19”. Changes in accounts payable resulted in a $560.9 million increase in the 2020 period compared to a $323.2 million increase in the 2019 period, due primarily to the timing of receipts and payments. Changes in income taxes in the 2020 period compared to the 2019 period are primarily due to the timing of payments for income taxes and increased accruals for income tax expense due to higher pre-tax earnings in the 2020 period.
On an ongoing basis, we closely monitor and manage our inventory balances, and they may fluctuate from period to period based on new store openings, the timing of purchases, and other factors. Merchandise inventories decreased by 6% in the 2020 period and increased by 8% in the 2019 period, with changes in our four inventory categories as follows: consumables decreased by 1% compared to a 8% increase; seasonal decreased 12% compared to a 9% increase; home products decreased by 13% compared to a 15% increase; and apparel decreased by 24% compared to a 5% decrease.
Cash flows from investing activities . Significant components of property and equipment purchases in the 2020 period included the following approximate amounts: $162 million for improvements, upgrades, remodels and relocations of existing stores; $138 million related to store facilities, primarily for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment in new stores; $95 million for distribution and transportation-related capital expenditures; and $26 million for information systems upgrades and technology-related projects. The timing of new, remodeled and relocated store openings along with other factors may affect the relationship between such openings and the related property and equipment purchases in any given period. During the 2020 period, we opened 500 new stores and remodeled or relocated 1,016 stores.
Significant components of property and equipment purchases in the 2019 period included the following approximate amounts: $136 million for improvements, upgrades, remodels and relocations of existing stores; $68 million related to new leased stores, primarily for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment; $54 million for distribution and transportation-related capital expenditures; and $28 million for information systems upgrades and technology-related projects. During the 2019 period, we opened 489 new stores and remodeled or relocated 699 stores.
Capital expenditures for 2020 are currently projected to be in the range of $1.0 billion to $1.1 billion. We anticipate funding 2020 capital requirements with a combination of some or all of the following: existing cash balances, cash flows from operations, availability under our Revolving Facility and/or the issuance of additional CP Notes. We plan to continue to invest in store growth through the development of new stores and the remodel or relocation of existing stores. Capital expenditures in 2020 are anticipated to support our store growth as well as our remodel and relocation initiatives, including capital outlays for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment; the construction of new stores; costs to support and enhance our supply chain initiatives including new and existing distribution center facilities and our private fleet; technology and other strategic initiatives; as well as routine and ongoing capital requirements.
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Cash flows from financing activities . In the 2020 period, net proceeds from the issuance of the 2030 Senior Notes and 2050 Senior Notes totaled $1.5 billion. Net commercial paper borrowings decreased by $425.2 million in the 2020 period and decreased by $280.7 million in the 2019 period. Borrowings and repayments under the Revolving Facility during the 2020 period were $300.0 million each, and there were no such borrowings or repayments in the 2019 period. Also during the 2020 and 2019 periods, we repurchased 3.6 million and 3.0 million shares of our common stock at a total cost of $664.6 million and $385.0 million, respectively, and paid cash dividends of $180.3 million and $165.1 million, respectively.
Share Repurchase Program
Effective July 31, 2020, our common stock repurchase program had a total remaining authorization of approximately $0.5 billion. Effective August 26, 2020, our Board of Directors approved an increase in such program of $2.0 billion and at that date, the program had a total remaining authorization of approximately $2.5 billion. Under the authorization, purchases may be made in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions from time to time subject to market and other conditions. The authorization has no expiration date and may be modified or terminated from time to time at the discretion of our Board of Directors. For more information about our share repurchase program, see Note 9 to the condensed consolidated financial statements contained in Part I, Item 1 of this report and Part II, Item 2 of this report.
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