Financial Information by Segment

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Financial Information by Segment

M. Financial Information by Segment

The Company identifies a business as an operating segment if: (i) it engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses; (ii) its operating results are regularly reviewed by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), who is Cabot’s President and Chief Executive Officer, to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance; and (iii) it has available discrete financial information. The Company has determined that all of its businesses are operating segments. The CODM reviews financial information at the operating segment level to allocate resources and to assess the operating results and financial performance for each operating segment. Operating segments are aggregated into a reportable segment if the operating segments are determined to have similar economic characteristics and if the operating segments are similar in the following areas: (i) nature of products and services; (ii) nature of production processes; (iii) type or class of customer for their products and services; (iv) methods used to distribute the products or provide services; and (v) if applicable, the nature of the regulatory environment.

The Company has three reportable segments: Reinforcement Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Purification Solutions.

The Reinforcement Materials segment consists of the rubber blacks and elastomer composites product lines.

The Performance Chemicals segment combines the specialty carbons, fumed metal oxides and aerogel product lines into the Performance Additives business, and combines the specialty compounds and inkjet colorants product lines into the Formulated Solutions business. These businesses are similar in terms of economic characteristics, nature of products, processes, customer class and product distribution methods, and, therefore, have been aggregated into one reportable segment. The net sales from each of these businesses for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:

	Three Months Ended June 30				Nine Months Ended June 30
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In millions)
Performance Additives	$	208	$	151	$	595	$	489
Formulated Solutions		95		69		269		218
Total Performance Chemicals	$	303	$	220	$	864	$	707

The Purification Solutions segment consists of the Company’s activated carbon business.

Income (loss) before income taxes (“Segment EBIT”) is presented for each reportable segment in the table below. Segment EBIT excludes Interest expense, general unallocated income (expense), unallocated corporate costs, and certain items, meaning items management does not consider representative of on-going operating segment results. In addition, Segment EBIT includes Equity in earnings of affiliated companies, net of tax, the full operating results of a contractual joint venture in Purification Solutions, royalties, Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax, and discounting charges for certain Notes receivable.

Financial information by reportable segment is as follows:

	Reinforcement Materials			Performance Chemicals		Purification Solutions		Segment Total		Unallocated and Other(1)			Consolidated Total
	(In millions)
Three Months Ended June 30, 2021
Revenues from external customers(2)	$	479		$	303	$	69	$	851	$	66		$	917
Income (loss) before income taxes(3)	$	85		$	54	$	6	$	145	$	(22	)	$	123
Three Months Ended June 30, 2020
Revenues from external customers(2)	$	197		$	220	$	63	$	480	$	38		$	518
Income (loss) before income taxes(3)	$	(5	)	$	21	$	2	$	18	$	(29	)	$	(11	)
Nine Months Ended June 30, 2021
Revenues from external customers(2)	$	1,288		$	864	$	191	$	2,343	$	162		$	2,505
Income (loss) before income taxes(3)	$	262		$	166	$	6	$	434	$	(94	)	$	340
Nine Months Ended June 30, 2020
Revenues from external customers(2)	$	931		$	707	$	186	$	1,824	$	131		$	1,955
Income (loss) before income taxes(3)	$	103		$	93	$	3	$	199	$	(148	)	$	51

^{(1) Unallocated and Other includes certain items and eliminations necessary to reflect management’s reporting of operating segment results. These items are reflective of the segment reporting presented to the CODM.}

⁽²⁾ Consolidated Total Revenues from external customers reconciles to Net sales and other operating revenues on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Revenues from external customers that are categorized as Unallocated and Other reflects royalties, external shipping and handling fees, the impact of unearned revenue, the removal of 100% of the sales of an equity method affiliate, discounting charges for certain Notes receivable, by-product revenue, and indirect tax settlement credits. Details are provided in the table below:

	Three Months Ended June 30				Nine Months Ended June 30
	2021		2020		2021			2020
	(In millions)
Shipping and handling fees	$	41	$	22	$	112		$	83
By-product sales		19		12		54			46
Other		6		4		(4	)		2
Total	$	66	$	38	$	162		$	131

⁽³⁾ Consolidated Total Income (loss) before income taxes reconciles to Income (loss) before income taxes and equity in earnings of affiliated companies on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Income (loss) before income taxes that are categorized as Unallocated and Other includes:

	Three Months Ended June 30						Nine Months Ended June 30
	2021			2020			2021			2020
	(In millions)
Interest expense	$	(12	)	$	(13	)	$	(37	)	$	(41	)
Certain items(a)
Indirect tax settlement credits (Note G)		12			—			12			3
Global restructuring activities (Note J)		(4	)		(3	)		(8	)		(16	)
Employee benefit plan settlement and other charges (Note D)		(1	)		(2	)		(6	)		(5	)
Acquisition and integration-related charges		(2	)		(1	)		(4	)		(3	)
Legal and environmental matters and reserves		—			(1	)		—			(51	)
Specialty Fluids loss on sale and asset impairment charges		—			—			—			(1	)
Other		—			—			(1	)		(1	)
Total certain items, pre-tax		5			(7	)		(7	)		(74	)
Unallocated corporate costs(b)		(14	)		(10	)		(43	)		(32	)
General unallocated income (expense)(c)		1			2			(4	)		1
Less: Equity in earnings of affiliated companies, net    of tax(d)		2			1			3			2
Total	$	(22	)	$	(29	)	$	(94	)	$	(148	)

^(a) Certain items are items of expense and income that management does not consider representative of the Company’s fundamental on-going segment results and they are, therefore, excluded from Segment EBIT.

^(b) Unallocated corporate costs are costs that are not controlled by the segments and primarily benefit corporate interests.

^(c) General unallocated income (expense) consists of gains (losses) arising from foreign currency transactions, net of other foreign currency risk management activities, Interest and dividend income, the profit or loss related to the corporate adjustment for unearned revenue, the impact of including the full operating results of a contractual joint venture in Purification Solutions Segment EBIT and unrealized holding gains (losses) for equity securities.

^(d) Equity in earnings of affiliated companies, net of tax, is included in Segment EBIT and is removed in Unallocated and other to reconcile to Income (loss) from operations before income taxes and equity in earnings from affiliated companies.

The Company’s segments operate globally. In addition to presenting Revenue from external customers by reportable segment, the following tables further disaggregate Revenues from external customers by geographic region.

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2021
	Reinforcement Materials		Performance Chemicals		Purification Solutions		Consolidated Total
	(In millions)
Americas	$	189	$	85	$	28	$	302
Asia Pacific		197		118		9		324
Europe, Middle East and Africa		93		100		32		225
Segment revenues from external customers		479		303		69		851
Unallocated and other								66
Net sales and other operating revenues							$	917

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2020
	Reinforcement Materials		Performance Chemicals		Purification Solutions		Consolidated Total
	(In millions)
Americas	$	59	$	54	$	28	$	141
Asia Pacific		106		98		8		212
Europe, Middle East and Africa		32		68		27		127
Segment revenues from external customers		197		220		63		480
Unallocated and other								38
Net sales and other operating revenues							$	518

	Nine Months Ended June 30, 2021
	Reinforcement Materials		Performance Chemicals		Purification Solutions		Consolidated Total
	(In millions)
Americas	$	501	$	232	$	79	$	812
Asia Pacific		537		358		27		922
Europe, Middle East and Africa		250		274		85		609
Segment revenues from external customers		1,288		864		191		2,343
Unallocated and other								162
Net sales and other operating revenues							$	2,505

	Nine Months Ended June 30, 2020
	Reinforcement Materials		Performance Chemicals		Purification Solutions		Consolidated Total
	(In millions)
Americas	$	354	$	206	$	83	$	643
Asia Pacific		398		271		26		695
Europe, Middle East and Africa		179		230		77		486
Segment revenues from external customers		931		707		186		1,824
Unallocated and other								131
Net sales and other operating revenues							$	1,955