NOTE 17. BUSINESS SEGMENTS

The Company's operating segments earn revenues and incur expenses 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 four reporting segments: Americas Recycling, Americas Mills, Americas Fabrication, and International Mill. See Note 1, Nature of Operations, of the audited consolidated financial statements included in the 2018 Form 10-K for more information about the reporting segments, including the types of products and services from which each reporting segment derives its net sales. Corporate and Other contains earnings or losses on assets and liabilities related to the Company's Benefit Restoration Plan assets and short-term investments, expenses of the Company's corporate headquarters, interest expense related to its long-term debt and intercompany eliminations.

The Company uses adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations to compare and evaluate the financial performance of its segments. Adjusted EBITDA is the sum of the Company's earnings from continuing operations before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and impairment expense. 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 2018 Form 10-K.

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



	Three Months Ended February 28, 2019
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication			International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	225,888	$	472,795	$	526,678		$	174,945	$	2,477		$	1,402,783
Intersegment sales	61,187		301,914		4,158			253		(367,512		)	—
Net sales	287,075		774,709		530,836			175,198		(365,035		)	1,402,783
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	10,124		112,396		(49,578		)	20,537		(24,146		)	69,333



	Six Months Ended February 28, 2019
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication			International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	466,069	$	846,466	$	961,236		$	401,618	$	4,736		$	2,680,125
Intersegment sales	123,015		530,096		6,711			604		(660,426		)	—
Net sales	589,084		1,376,562		967,947			402,222		(655,690		)	2,680,125
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	25,558		226,269		(86,574		)	53,316		(83,700		)	134,869
Total assets as of February 28, 2019*	275,106		1,730,523		1,085,078			507,775		130,210			3,728,692

* Total assets listed in Corporate and Other includes assets from discontinued operations.



	Three Months Ended February 28, 2018
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication			International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	265,432	$	262,703	$	310,199		$	211,484	$	4,450		$	1,054,268
Intersegment sales	55,195		163,184		2,774			281		(221,434		)	—
Net sales	320,627		425,887		312,973			211,765		(216,984		)	1,054,268
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	17,216		50,219		(8,611		)	32,135		(26,083		)	64,876



	Six Months Ended February 28, 2018
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication			International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	539,769	$	509,436	$	640,751		$	431,696	$	9,149		$	2,130,801
Intersegment sales	100,199		329,969		5,001			546		(435,715		)	—
Net sales	639,968		839,405		645,752			432,242		(426,566		)	2,130,801
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	32,221		105,385		(6,579		)	63,079		(49,963		)	144,143
Total assets as of August 31, 2018*	291,838		1,115,339		739,151			485,548		696,428			3,328,304

* Total assets listed in Corporate and Other includes assets from discontinued operations.

The following table presents a reconciliation of earnings from continuing operations to adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations:



	Three Months Ended February 28,					Six Months Ended February 28,
(in thousands)	2019			2018		2019			2018
Earnings from continuing operations	$	14,928		$	9,781	$	34,348		$	41,652
Interest expense	18,495			7,181		35,158			13,792
Income taxes	18,141			1,728		23,750			10,153
Depreciation and amortization	41,245			34,050		76,421			65,949
Amortization of acquired unfavorable contract backlog	(23,476		)	—		(34,808		)	—
Impairment of assets	—			12,136		—			12,597
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	$	69,333		$	64,876	$	134,869		$	144,143