Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) Q1 2021 Earnings Conference Call - Final Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Scholastic First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference may be recorded. [Operator Instructions]

I'd now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Mr. Gil Dickoff, Senior Vice President and Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Liz and good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Scholastic's fiscal 2021 first quarter earnings call. Joining me on the call today are Dick Robinson, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ken Cleary, the company's Chief Financial Officer. We have posted an investor presentation on our IR website at investor.scholastic.com, which we encourage you to download if you haven't already done so. I would like to point out that certain statements made today will be forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those arising from the continuing impact of COVID-19 on the company's business operations.

These forward-looking statements by their nature are uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, we will be discussing some non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Regulation G, and the reconciliations of those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the company's earnings release filed this afternoon on our Form 8-K, which has also been posted to our Investor Relations website. We encourage you to review the disclaimers in our press release and investor presentation and to review the risk factors contained in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC.

And now, I would like to turn the call over to Dick Robinson.

Good afternoon, everybody and thank you for joining our call. As you all know from your own lives or from the news, it is a difficult time for U.S. schools, which are grappling with how best to keep their teachers, students and communities safe while also implementing new ways to schedule an organized learning, carry out rigorous distancing and sanitation methods and supporting families who are navigating this new normal with them. Most schools delayed openings this academic year and while some have started with fully remote learning models, many others have started in-person sessions or hybrid schedules. During this time of readjustment as teachers are beginning to send in Book Clubs orders and schools are just now able to schedule Book Fairs, we remain intently focused on both managing the effect of COVID-19 on our business and supporting our school and family customers as they acclimate to their new environment in three important ways.

First, we have substantially completed our $100 million cost reduction program and our transition to more flexible operating model. Ken Cleary will cover the program in detail, but I'll touch on the key initiatives. We took immediate action in March to reduce costs, while also developing a comprehensive program to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our operating income and cash flow to strengthen our businesses and position Scholastic for growth