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Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
6 Months Ended
Aug. 01, 2020
Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]  
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
During 2019, COVID-19 emerged and spread worldwide. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, 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 quarantining of people who may have been exposed to the virus. In March 2020, the Company temporarily closed all of its stores, distribution centers and offices, and online businesses, with Associates working remotely where possible. In May 2020, the Company began reopening stores and as of August 1, 2020, more than 4,500 of the Company’s worldwide stores, and each of its online shopping websites, were reopened. 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. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 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
The Company ended the second quarter with $6.6 billion of cash. During the second quarter, the Company generated positive operating cash flows and paid off the $1.0 billion it drew down in March 2020 from its revolving credit facilities maturing 2022 and 2024. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, on August 10, 2020, the Company also 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. The Company has and will continue to monitor its expenses, capital spending, and shareholder distributions due to the current environment. The Company did not declare a dividend in the first six months of fiscal 2021 and does not expect to declare a dividend in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 and has suspended its share buyback program.
During the first half 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.
For the first half of fiscal 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and store closures, the Company evaluated the value of its inventory. Permanent markdowns 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 six months ended August 1, 2020, which reflects a $0.1 billion reversal of the estimated markdowns recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
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 store closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we determined that a triggering event occurred 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 half 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. TJX continued to pay and provide benefits to eligible impacted employees during the second quarter of fiscal 2021. As such, we qualified for certain of these provisions, which partially offset related expenses. During the second quarter of fiscal 2021 and the six months ended August 1, 2020, these programs reduced our expenses by approximately $0.2 billion and $0.4 billion, respectively, on our Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income, 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 $0.2 billion.
The Company also incurred incremental costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including primarily from:
Incremental payroll investments in our stores for enhanced cleaning and monitoring occupancy.
Incremental expense related to the discretionary appreciation bonus for store and distribution center Associates.
–Personal protective equipment for our Associates.