Operating Segments

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

OPERATING SEGMENTS

Universal’s primary operations involve selecting, procuring, processing, packing, storing, shipping, and financing leaf tobacco for sale to, or for the account of, manufacturers of consumer tobacco products throughout the world. Through various operating subsidiaries located in tobacco-growing countries around the world and significant ownership interests in unconsolidated affiliates, the Company processes and/or sells flue-cured and burley tobaccos, dark air-cured tobaccos, and oriental tobaccos. Flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos are used principally in the manufacture of cigarettes, and dark air-cured tobaccos are used mainly in the manufacture of cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products. Some of these tobacco types are also increasingly used in the manufacture of non-combustible tobacco products that are intended to provide consumers with an alternative to traditional combustible products. A substantial portion of the Company’s revenues are derived from sales to a limited number of large, multinational cigarette manufacturers.

The principal approach used by management to evaluate the Company’s performance is by geographic region, although the dark air-cured and oriental tobacco businesses are each evaluated on the basis of their worldwide operations. Oriental tobacco operations consist principally of a 49% interest in an affiliate, and the performance of those operations is evaluated based on the Company’s equity in the pretax earnings of that affiliate. Under this structure, the Company has the following primary operating segments: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Dark Air-Cured, Oriental, and Special Services. North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia are primarily involved in flue-cured and/or burley leaf tobacco operations for supply to cigarette manufacturers. The Dark Air-Cured group supplies dark air-cured tobacco principally to manufacturers of cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products, and the Oriental business supplies oriental tobacco to cigarette manufacturers. From time to time, the segments may trade in tobaccos that differ from their main varieties, but those activities are not significant to their overall results. Special Services includes the Company's laboratory services business, which provides physical and chemical product testing and smoke testing for customers, its food ingredients business (including FruitSmart), and its liquid nicotine business.

The five regional operating segments serving the Company’s cigarette manufacturer customer base share similar characteristics in the nature of their products and services, production processes, class of customer, product distribution methods, and regulatory environment. Based on the applicable accounting guidance, four of the regions – South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia – are aggregated into a single reporting segment, “Other Regions”, because they also have similar economic characteristics. North America is reported as an individual operating segment because its economic characteristics differ from the other regions, generally because its operations require lower working capital investments for crop financing and inventory. The Dark Air-Cured, Oriental and Special Services segments, which have dissimilar characteristics in some of the categories mentioned above, are reported together as “Other Tobacco Operations” because each is below the measurement threshold for separate reporting.

Universal incurs overhead expenses related to senior management, sales, finance, legal, and other functions that are centralized at its corporate headquarters, as well as functions performed at several sales and administrative offices around the world. These overhead expenses are allocated to the various operating segments, generally on the basis of tobacco volumes planned to be purchased and/or processed. Management believes this method of allocation is representative of the value of the related services provided to the operating segments. The Company evaluates the performance of its segments based on operating income after allocated overhead expenses, plus equity in the pretax earnings of unconsolidated affiliates.

Reportable segment data as of, or for, the fiscal years ended March 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, is as follows:



	Sales and Other Operating Revenues						Operating Income
	Fiscal Year Ended March 31,						Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
	2020		2019		2018		2020			2019			2018
Flue-Cured and Burley Leaf Tobacco Operations:
North America	$	236,262	$	382,631	$	308,691	$	8,353		$	23,069		$	23,091
Other Regions ⁽¹⁾	1,372,424		1,569,738		1,482,188		110,766			151,527			146,761
Subtotal	1,608,686		1,952,369		1,790,879		119,119			174,596			169,852
Other Tobacco Operations ⁽²⁾	301,293		274,784		243,068		19,002			12,176			10,098
Segment total	1,909,979		2,227,153		2,033,947		138,121			186,772			179,950
Deduct: Equity in pretax earnings of unconsolidated affiliates ⁽³⁾							(4,211		)	(5,299		)	(9,125		)
Restructuring and impairment costs ⁽⁴⁾							(7,543		)	(20,304		)	—
Consolidated total	$	1,909,979	$	2,227,153	$	2,033,947	$	126,367		$	161,169		$	170,825

	Segment Assets						Accounts Receivable, net ⁽⁵⁾
	March 31,						March 31,
	2020		2019		2018		2020			2019			2018
Flue-Cured and Burley Leaf Tobacco Operations:
North America	$	290,720	$	294,064	$	368,672	$	33,232		$	31,939		$	44,726
Other Regions ⁽¹⁾	1,335,814		1,473,100		1,460,961		250,698			295,442			296,213
Subtotal	1,626,534		1,767,164		1,829,633		283,930			327,381			340,939
Other Tobacco Operations ⁽²⁾	494,387		366,020		338,999		56,781			40,729			36,180
Segment and consolidated totals	$	2,120,921	$	2,133,184	$	2,168,632	$	340,711		$	368,110		$	377,119

	Goodwill and Intangibles, net						Depreciation and Amortization
	March 31,						Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
	2020		2019		2018		2020			2019			2018
Flue-Cured and Burley Leaf Tobacco Operations:
North America	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	4,413		$	4,756		$	4,772
Other Regions ⁽¹⁾	96,308		96,281		97,214		24,211			24,088			24,547
Subtotal	96,308		96,281		97,214		28,624			28,844			29,319
Other Tobacco Operations ⁽²⁾	48,379		1,713		1,713		9,755			8,306			5,574
Segment and consolidated totals	$	144,687	$	97,994	$	98,927	$	38,379		$	37,150		$	34,893

	Capital Expenditures
	Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Flue-Cured and Burley Leaf Tobacco Operations:
North America	$	1,997	$	3,137	$	3,316
Other Regions ⁽¹⁾	28,229		22,569		21,820
Subtotal	30,226		25,706		25,136
Other Tobacco Operations ⁽²⁾	5,001		13,054		8,901
Segment and consolidated totals	$	35,227	$	38,760	$	34,037


⁽¹⁾	Includes South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia regions, as well as inter-region eliminations.

⁽²⁾

Includes Dark Air-Cured, Oriental, and Special Services, as well as intercompany eliminations. Sales and other operating revenues, accounts receivable, goodwill and intangibles, depreciation and amortization, and capital expenditures include limited amounts or no amounts for Oriental because the business is accounted for on the equity method and its financial results consist principally of equity in the pretax earnings of the unconsolidated affiliate. The investment in the unconsolidated affiliate is included in segment assets and was approximately $76.4 million, $79.2 million, and $89.3 million, at March 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively.


⁽³⁾	Equity in pretax earnings of unconsolidated affiliates is included in segment operating income (Other Tobacco Operations segment), but is reported below consolidated operating income and excluded from that total in the consolidated statements of income.


⁽⁴⁾	Restructuring and impairment costs are excluded from segment operating income, but are included in consolidated operating income in the consolidated statements of income (see Note 4).


(5)	Accounts receivable, net includes allowances for doubtful accounts of approximately $2.0 million, $3.0 million and $2.0 million at March 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 respectively. Accounts receivable are generally unsecured and due within 30 days.

Geographic data as of, or for, the fiscal years ended March 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, is presented below. Sales and other operating revenues are attributed to individual countries based on the final destination of the shipment. Long-lived assets generally consist of net property, plant, and equipment, goodwill, and other intangibles.



Geographic Data	Sales and Other Operating Revenues
	Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Belgium	$	361,889	$	390,433	$	339,391
United States	221,428		227,771		249,281
China	105,683		115,174		120,859
Germany	104,525		166,397		114,386
Poland	84,011		145,478		110,445
Indonesia	80,891		104,268		73,544
Philippines	68,143		69,820		52,902
All other countries	883,409		1,007,812		973,139
Consolidated total	$	1,909,979	$	2,227,153	$	2,033,947

	Long-Lived Assets
	March 31,
	2020		2019		2018
United States	$	145,764	$	81,270	$	88,196
Brazil	138,157		139,624		141,087
Mozambique	42,964		45,051		47,800
All other countries	132,955		134,543		145,638
Consolidated total	$	459,840	$	400,488	$	422,721