Business Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2015

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business Segment Information

NOTE 18 – BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

The Company has five operating segments, which are aggregated into four reportable business segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services; Paper Packaging; Flexible Products & Services; and Land Management. The Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services reportable business segment is the aggregation of two operating segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services – Americas and Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Operations in the Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment involve the production and sale of rigid industrial packaging products, such as steel, fibre and plastic drums, rigid intermediate bulk containers, closure systems for industrial packaging products, transit protection products, water bottles and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers, and services, such as container life cycle management, blending, filling, logistics, warehousing and other packaging services. The Company’s rigid industrial packaging products and services are sold to customers in industries such as chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agricultural, pharmaceutical and mineral products, among others.

Operations in the Paper Packaging segment involve the production and sale of containerboard, corrugated sheets, corrugated containers and other corrugated products to customers in North America in industries such as packaging, automotive, food and building products. The Company’s corrugated container products are used to ship such diverse products as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books and furniture, as well as numerous other applications.

Operations in the Flexible Products & Services segment involve the production and sale of flexible intermediate bulk containers and related services on a global basis. The Company’s flexible intermediate bulk containers are constructed from a polypropylene-based woven fabric that is produced at its production sites, as well as sourced from strategic regional suppliers. Flexible products are sold to customers and in market segments similar to those of the Company’s Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment. Additionally, the Company’s flexible products significantly expand its presence in the agricultural and food industries, among others.

Operations in the Land Management segment involve the management and sale of timber and special use properties from approximately 242,673 acres of timber properties in the southeastern United States, which are actively managed. Land Management’s operations focus on the active harvesting and regeneration of its timber properties to achieve sustainable long-term yields. While timber sales are subject to fluctuations, the Company seeks to maintain a consistent cutting schedule, within the limits of market and weather conditions. The Company also sells, from time to time, timberland and special use properties, which consists of surplus properties, HBU properties, and development properties.

In order to maximize the value of timber property, the Company continues to review its current portfolio and explore the development of certain of these properties. This process has led the Company to characterize property as follows:

• Surplus property, meaning land that cannot be efficiently or effectively managed by the Company, whether due to parcel size, lack of productivity, location, access limitations or for other reasons.

• HBU property, meaning land that in its current state has a higher market value for uses other than growing and selling timber.

• Development property, meaning HBU land that, with additional investment, may have a significantly higher market value than its HBU market value.

• Timberland, meaning land that is best suited for growing and selling timber.

The disposal of surplus and HBU property is reported in the consolidated statements of income under “gain on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net” and the sale of development property is reported under “net sales” and “cost of products sold.” All HBU, development and surplus property is used by the Company to productively grow and sell timber until sold.

Whether timberland has a higher value for uses other than growing and selling timber is a determination based upon several variables, such as proximity to population centers, anticipated population growth in the area, the topography of the land, aesthetic considerations, including access to water, the condition of the surrounding land, availability of utilities, markets for timber and economic considerations both nationally and locally. Given these considerations, the characterization of land is not a static process, but requires an ongoing review and re-characterization as circumstances change.

The following segment information is presented for each of the three years in the period ended October 31, 2015 (Dollars in millions):

	2015			2014			2013
Net sales:
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Service	$	2,586.4		$	3,077.0		$	3,062.1
Paper Packaging		676.1			706.8			676.0
Flexible Products & Services		322.6			425.8			448.7
Land Management		31.6			29.5			33.1
Total net sales	$	3,616.7		$	4,239.1		$	4,219.9
Operating profit (loss):
Rigid Industrial Packaging		86.4			170.1			196.8
Paper Packaging		109.3			125.8			123.8
Flexible Products & Services		(36.6	)		(78.6	)		(11.7	)
Land Management		33.7			32.0			32.7
Total operating profit	$	192.8		$	249.3		$	341.6
Depreciation, depletion and amortization expense:
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services	$	94.0		$	108.4		$	107.4
Paper Packaging		28.7			29.8			30.3
Flexible Products & Services		8.6			13.3			15.2
Land Management		3.3			4.3			4.7
Total depreciation, depletion and amortization expense	$	134.6		$	155.8		$	157.6
Capital Expenditures
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services	$	69.4		$	73.8		$	64.8
Paper Packaging		56.4			38.9			21.7
Flexible Products & Services		3.2			4.9			14.0
Land Management		1.6			60.0			13.0
Total segment		130.6			177.6			113.5
Corporate and other		10.7			17.1			31.9
Total capital expenditures	$	141.3		$	194.7		$	145.4
Assets:
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services	$	2,043.3		$	2,334.1
Paper Packaging		444.0			408.3
Flexible Products & Services		187.0			251.0
Land Management		335.2			319.0
Total Segment		3,009.5			3,312.4
Corporate and other		306.2			355.0
Total Assets	$	3,315.7		$	3,667.4

The following geographic information is presented for each of the three years in the period ended October 31, 2015 (Dollars in millions):

	2015		2014		2013
Net Sales
United States	$	1,787.1	$	1,905.8	$	1,843.6
Europe, Middle East, and Africa		1,287.2		1,596.2		1,610.6
Asia Pacific and other Americas		542.4		737.1		765.7
Total net sales	$	3,616.7	$	4,239.1	$	4,219.9

The following table presents properties, plants and equipment, net by geographic region (Dollars in millions):

	2015		2014
Properties, plants and equipment, net
United States	$	734.1	$	716.5
Europe, Middle East, and Africa		335.4		402.8
Asia Pacific and other Americas		148.2		189.0
Total properites, plants and equipment, net	$	1,217.7	$	1,308.3