Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Feb. 04, 2012

Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure and Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Spartech Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries (“Spartech” or the “Company”). These financial statements have been prepared on a condensed basis, and accordingly, certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. In the opinion of management, these consolidated condensed financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) and disclosures necessary to make the information presented herein not misleading. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes thereto included in the Company's October 29, 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In 2009, the Company sold its wheels and profiles businesses and closed and liquidated three businesses, including a manufacturer of boat components sold to the marine market and one compounding and one sheet business that previously serviced single customers. These businesses are classified as discontinued operations based on the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) topic, Discontinued Operations. Accordingly, for all periods presented herein, the consolidated statements of operations conform to this presentation. The wheels, profiles and marine businesses were previously reported in the Engineered Products group and due to these dispositions, the Company no longer has this reporting group. See Notes 2 and 10 for further discussion of the Company's discontinued operations and segments, respectively.

Spartech is organized into three reportable segments based on its operating structure and products manufactured. The three reportable segments are Custom Sheet and Rollstock, Packaging Technologies and Color and Specialty Compounds. During the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company reorganized its internal reporting and management responsibilities for a specific product line from its Color and Specialty Compounds segment to its Custom Sheet and Rollstock segment to better align its management of this product line with end markets. These management and reporting changes resulted in a reorganization of the Company's reportable segments, and historical segment results have been reclassified to conform to these changes. See Note 10 for further discussion of the Company's segments.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Operating results for any quarter are historically seasonal in nature and are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year. Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior period financial statements and notes to conform to the current period presentation. Dollars presented are in thousands except per share data, unless otherwise indicated.

The Company's fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to October 31st and fiscal years generally contain 364 days. Because of this convention, every fifth or sixth fiscal year has an additional week, and 2012 will be reported as a 53-week fiscal year containing 371 days of activity. The Company's first quarter, which ended February 4, 2012, included 14 weeks compared to 13 weeks in the first quarter of the prior year. Years presented are fiscal unless noted otherwise.