Earnings per share

3 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2017

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Earnings per share

Earnings per share

The dilutive effect of outstanding stock options on earnings per share is calculated using the treasury stock method. Stock options are anti-dilutive and excluded from the earnings per share calculation if the exercise price exceeds the average market price of the common shares. There were 7.6 million outstanding options to purchase common shares that were anti-dilutive and excluded from the first quarter earnings per share calculation as of November 30, 2017 compared to 4.0 million as of November 30, 2016.