

11	SEGMENT DATA

The company's businesses are organized, managed, and internally grouped into segments based on similarities in products and services. Segment selection is based on the manner in which management organizes segments for making operating and investment decisions and assessing performance. The company has identified nine operating segments and has aggregated certain of those segments into two reportable segments: Professional and Residential. The aggregation of the company's segments is based on the segments having the following similarities: economic characteristics, types of products and services, types of production processes, type or class of customers, and method of distribution.

The Professional business segment consists of turf and landscape equipment, snow and ice management equipment, and irrigation products. Turf and landscape equipment products include sports fields and grounds maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, rental and specialty construction equipment, and other maintenance equipment. Snow and ice management equipment products include snowplows, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders. Irrigation products consist of sprinkler heads, electric and hydraulic valves, controllers, computer irrigation central control systems, coupling systems, and ag-irrigation drip tape and hose products, as well as professionally installed lighting products offered through distributors and landscape contractors that also purchase irrigation products. Professional business segment products are sold mainly through a network of distributors and dealers to professional users engaged in maintaining golf courses, sports fields, municipal properties, agricultural fields, residential and commercial landscapes, and removing snow and ice, as well as directly to government customers, rental companies, and large retailers.

The Residential business segment consists of walk power mowers, riding mowers, snow throwers, replacement parts, and home solutions products, including trimmers, blowers, blower-vacuums, and underground and hose-end retail irrigation products sold in Australia. Residential business segment products are sold to homeowners through a network of distributors and dealers, and through a broad array of home centers, hardware retailers, and mass retailers, as well as online.

The company's remaining activities are presented as "Other" due to their insignificance. These Other activities consist of the company's wholly-owned domestic distribution company, the company's corporate activities, and the elimination of intersegment revenues and expenses. Corporate activities include general corporate expenditures (finance, human resources, legal, information services, public relations, and similar activities) and other unallocated corporate assets and liabilities, such as corporate facilities and deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies in Note 1. The company evaluates the performance of its Professional and Residential business segment results based on earnings from operations plus other income, net. The business segment's operating profits or losses include direct costs incurred at the segment's operating level plus allocated expenses, such as profit sharing and manufacturing expenses. The allocated expenses represent costs that these operations would have incurred otherwise, but do not include general corporate expenses, interest expense, and income taxes. Operating loss for the company's Other activities includes earnings (loss) from the company's domestic wholly-owned distribution company, corporate activities, other income, and interest expense. The company accounts for intersegment gross sales at current market prices.

The following tables present summarized financial information concerning the company's reportable segments and Other activities (in thousands):



Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2018	Professional		Residential		Other			Total
Net sales	$	1,946,999	$	654,413	$	17,238		$	2,618,650
Intersegment gross sales	29,798		312		(30,110		)	—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	399,806		64,807		(92,216		)	372,397
Total assets	916,106		199,273		455,605			1,570,984
Capital expenditures	58,109		16,014		16,001			90,124
Depreciation and amortization	$	38,585	$	9,999	$	12,693		$	61,277



Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2017	Professional		Residential		Other			Total
Net sales	$	1,811,705	$	673,247	$	20,224		$	2,505,176
Intersegment gross sales	27,893		332		(28,225		)	—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	379,496		74,704		(101,016		)	353,184
Total assets	836,600		189,578		467,609			1,493,787
Capital expenditures	29,786		10,605		17,885			58,276
Depreciation and amortization	$	41,313	$	10,308	$	13,365		$	64,986



Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2016	Professional		Residential		Other			Total
Net sales	$	1,705,312	$	669,131	$	17,732		$	2,392,175
Intersegment gross sales	28,138		354		(28,492		)	—
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	352,060		73,691		(95,291		)	330,460
Total assets	774,762		188,920		420,890			1,384,572
Capital expenditures	27,296		13,794		9,633			50,723
Depreciation and amortization	$	40,715	$	10,406	$	12,976		$	64,097

During fiscal 2018, no customer accounted for 10 percent or more of total consolidated gross sales. Sales to one customer in the Residential segment accounted for 10 percent and 11 percent of total consolidated gross sales in fiscal 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The following table presents the details of operating loss before income taxes for the company's Other activities (in thousands):



Fiscal Years Ended October 31	2018			2017			2016
Corporate expenses	$	(92,541	)	$	(100,928	)	$	(95,288	)
Interest expense	(19,096		)	(19,113		)	(19,336		)
Other income	19,421			19,025			19,333
Total operating loss	$	(92,216	)	$	(101,016	)	$	(95,291	)

The following table presents net sales for groups of similar products and services (in thousands):



Fiscal Years Ended October 31	2018		2017		2016
Equipment	$	2,210,047	$	2,060,354	$	2,001,150
Irrigation and lighting	408,603		444,822		391,025
Total net sales	$	2,618,650	$	2,505,176	$	2,392,175

The following geographic area data includes net sales based on product shipment destination and long-lived assets, which consist of net property, plant, and equipment, and is based on physical location in addition to allocated capital tooling from U.S. plant facilities (in thousands):



Fiscal Years Ended October 31	United States		Foreign Countries		Total
2018
Net sales	$	1,975,562	$	643,088	$	2,618,650
Long-lived assets	$	230,246	$	41,213	$	271,459
2017
Net sales	$	1,893,249	$	611,927	$	2,505,176
Long-lived assets	$	194,338	$	40,892	$	235,230
2016
Net sales	$	1,812,587	$	579,588	$	2,392,175
Long-lived assets	$	188,869	$	33,169	$	222,038