BUSINESS SEGMENTS

9 Months Ended

May. 31, 2015

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business segments

NOTE 14. BUSINESS SEGMENTS

The Company's operating segments engage in business activities from which they may earn revenues and incur expenses and for which discrete financial information is available. Operating results for the operating segments are regularly reviewed by the Company's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segments and to assess performance. The Company's chief operating decision maker is identified as the Chief Executive Officer. Operating segments are aggregated for reporting purposes when the operating segments are identified as similar in accordance with the basic principles and aggregation criteria in the accounting standards. The Company's reporting segments are based primarily on product lines and secondarily on geographic area. The reporting segments have different lines of management responsibility as each business requires different marketing strategies and management expertise.

The Company structures its business into the following five reporting segments: Americas Recycling, Americas Mills, Americas Fabrication, International Mill and International Marketing and Distribution. The Americas Recycling segment processes scrap metals for use as a raw material by manufacturers of new metal products. The Americas Mills segment manufactures finished long steel products including reinforcement bar ("rebar"), merchant bar, light structural, some special bar quality ("SBQ") and other special sections as well as semi-finished billets for re-rolling and forging applications. The Americas Fabrication segment consists of the Company's rebar and structural fabrication operations, fence post manufacturing plants, construction-related product facilities and plants that heat-treat steel to strengthen and provide flexibility. The International Mill segment includes the Company's minimill and the Company's recycling and fabrication operations in Poland. The International Marketing and Distribution segment includes international operations for the sale, distribution and processing of steel products, ferrous and nonferrous metals and other industrial products. Additionally, this segment includes the Company's marketing and distribution divisions headquartered in the U.S. and also operates a recycling facility in Singapore. Corporate contains expenses of the Company's corporate headquarters and interest expense related to its long-term debt.

The financial information presented for the Americas Mills segment excludes Howell. Additionally, the financial information presented for the International Marketing and Distribution segment excludes the steel distribution business in Australia. These operations have been classified as discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of earnings. See Note 6, Businesses Held for Sale, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions, for more information.

The Company uses adjusted operating profit (loss), a non-GAAP financial measure, to compare and to evaluate the financial performance of its segments. Adjusted operating profit (loss) is the sum of the Company's earnings from continuing operations before income taxes, interest expense and discounts on sales of accounts receivable. Intersegment sales are generally priced at prevailing market prices. Certain corporate administrative expenses are allocated to the segments based upon the nature of the expense. The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2014.

The following is a summary of certain financial information from continuing operations by reportable segment:

	Three Months Ended May 31, 2015
	Americas								International
(in thousands)	Recycling			Mills		Fabrication			Mill		Marketing and Distribution		Corporate			Eliminations			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	194,081		$	244,632	$	415,763		$	156,286	$	494,639	$	601		$	—		$	1,506,002
Intersegment sales	31,015			202,189		2,132			32		23,605		—			(258,973		)	—
Net sales	225,096			446,821		417,895			156,318		518,244		601			(258,973		)	1,506,002
Adjusted operating profit (loss)	(1,970		)	84,237		22,878			6,146		37,669		(19,502		)	(3,480		)	125,978
	Three Months Ended May 31, 2014
	Americas								International
(in thousands)	Recycling			Mills		Fabrication			Mill		Marketing and Distribution		Corporate			Eliminations			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	287,533		$	308,878	$	406,066		$	207,364	$	528,559	$	193		$	—		$	1,738,593
Intersegment sales	47,571			218,696		3,359			194		21,186		—			(291,006		)	—
Net sales	335,104			527,574		409,425			207,558		549,745		193			(291,006		)	1,738,593
Adjusted operating profit (loss)	(1,085		)	74,063		1,244			2,047		2,023		(18,227		)	(1,930		)	58,135
	Nine Months Ended May 31, 2015
	Americas								International
(in thousands)	Recycling			Mills		Fabrication			Mill		Marketing and Distribution		Corporate			Eliminations			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	691,382		$	796,218	$	1,165,679		$	472,364	$	1,447,316	$	4,150		$	—		$	4,577,109
Intersegment sales	108,852			604,299		9,114			32		73,972		—			(796,269		)	—
Net sales	800,234			1,400,517		1,174,793			472,396		1,521,288		4,150			(796,269		)	4,577,109
Adjusted operating profit (loss)	(3,285		)	258,108		31,642			11,188		71,599		(55,513		)	(2,248		)	311,491
Total assets at May 31, 2015*	266,913			706,229		730,285			414,914		953,750		1,001,085			(571,535		)	3,501,641
	Nine Months Ended May 31, 2014
	Americas								International
(in thousands)	Recycling			Mills		Fabrication			Mill		Marketing and Distribution		Corporate			Eliminations			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	874,155		$	878,013	$	1,082,630		$	617,101	$	1,489,686	$	11,544		$	—		$	4,953,129
Intersegment sales	141,419			587,561		10,903			969		43,865		—			(784,717		)	—
Net sales	1,015,574			1,465,574		1,093,533			618,070		1,533,551		11,544			(784,717		)	4,953,129
Adjusted operating profit (loss)	(1,109		)	183,939		(1,869		)	25,647		8,552		(51,340		)	88			163,908
Total assets at August 31, 2014*	296,564			647,437		691,765			466,449		949,016		1,100,995			(470,716		)	3,681,510

* Excludes total assets from discontinued operations of $78.1 million at May 31, 2015 and $7.0 million at August 31, 2014.

Reconciliations of earnings from continuing operations to adjusted operating profit are provided below:

	Three Months Ended May 31,				Nine Months Ended May 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2015		2014
Earnings from continuing operations	$	67,128	$	24,468	$	167,181	$	71,423
Income taxes	37,964		13,700		84,252		32,657
Interest expense	20,519		18,849		58,828		57,234
Discounts on sales of accounts receivable	367		1,118		1,230		2,594
Adjusted operating profit	$	125,978	$	58,135	$	311,491	$	163,908