BUSINESS SEGMENTS

3 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2019

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business segments

NOTE 14. BUSINESS SEGMENTS

The Company structures its business into the following four reporting segments: Americas Recycling, Americas Mills, Americas Fabrication and International Mill. The Company's reporting segments are based primarily on product lines and secondarily on geographic area. See Note 1, Nature of Operations, of the consolidated financial statements included in the 2019 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 expense 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 consolidated financial statements included in the 2019 Form 10-K.

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

	Three Months Ended November 30, 2019
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication		International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	172,151	$	474,192	$	570,377	$	165,040	$	2,948		$	1,384,708
Intersegment sales	50,110		294,701		1,470		349		(346,630		)	—
Net sales	222,261		768,893		571,847		165,389		(343,682		)	1,384,708
Adjusted EBITDA	3,417		155,025		17,481		11,359		(27,477		)	159,805
Total assets at November 30, 2019*	251,115		1,632,290		1,123,785		483,718		317,443			3,808,351

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

	Three Months Ended November 30, 2018
(in thousands)	Americas Recycling		Americas Mills		Americas Fabrication			International Mill		Corporate and Other			Continuing Operations
Net sales-unaffiliated customers	$	240,181	$	373,671	$	434,558		$	226,673	$	2,259		$	1,277,342
Intersegment sales	61,828		228,182		2,553			351		(292,914		)	—
Net sales	302,009		601,853		437,111			227,024		(290,655		)	1,277,342
Adjusted EBITDA	15,434		113,873		(36,996		)	32,779		(59,554		)	65,536
Total assets at August 31, 2019*	257,517		1,667,366		1,106,420			464,177		263,291			3,758,771

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*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 November 30,
(in thousands)	2019			2018
Earnings from continuing operations	$	82,755		$	19,420
Interest expense	16,578			16,663
Income taxes	27,332			5,609
Depreciation and amortization	40,941			35,176
Amortization of acquired unfavorable contract backlog	(8,331		)	(11,332		)
Impairment of assets	530			—
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations	$	159,805		$	65,536