Earnings per share

6 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2018

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 10.6 million outstanding options to purchase common shares that were anti-dilutive and excluded from the second quarter earnings per share calculation as of February 28, 2018 compared to 6.7 million as of February 28, 2017. Anti-dilutive shares excluded from the year to date earnings per share calculation were 9.1 million for the period ended February 28, 2018 compared to 5.4 million for the period ended February 28, 2017.