Earnings per share

9 Months Ended

May 31, 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 12.1 million outstanding options to purchase common shares that were anti-dilutive and excluded from the third quarter earnings per share calculation as of May 31, 2018 compared to 6.4 million as of May 31, 2017. Anti-dilutive shares excluded from the year to date earnings per share calculation were 10.1 million for the period ended May 31, 2018 compared to 5.7 million for the period ended May 31, 2017.