Business Segment Information

Reportable business segment information for the three and nine months ended September 30 was as follows:



	Metal Containers		Closures ⁽¹⁾		Plastic Containers		Corporate			Total
	(Dollars in thousands)
Three Months Ended September 30, 2017
Net sales	$	772,382	$	357,343	$	137,205	$	—		$	1,266,930
Depreciation and amortization⁽²⁾	19,250		17,457		8,636		22			45,365
Rationalization charges	326		134		101		—			561
Segment income from operations⁽³⁾	92,222		45,322		6,444		(5,422		)	138,566

Three Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net sales	$	797,370	$	211,955	$	130,318	$	—		$	1,139,643
Depreciation and amortization⁽²⁾	18,432		9,757		8,006		27			36,222
Rationalization charges	4,280		64		3,477		—			7,821
Segment income from operations	98,007		28,401		800		(4,801		)	122,407

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017
Net sales	$	1,768,333	$	904,112	$	421,705	$	—		$	3,094,150
Depreciation and amortization⁽²⁾	57,172		43,638		25,644		68			126,522
Rationalization charges	3,288		535		662		—			4,485
Segment income from operations ⁽³⁾	185,525		102,947		19,944		(37,856		)	270,560

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net sales	$	1,780,429	$	614,558	$	412,036	$	—		$	2,807,023
Depreciation and amortization⁽²⁾	54,379		28,873		23,847		82			107,181
Rationalization charges	8,333		482		5,114		—			13,929
Segment income from operations	181,496		78,220		1,868		(14,082		)	247,502

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⁽¹⁾	Our Closures segment includes SDS as of the acquisition date of April 6, 2017.


⁽²⁾	Depreciation and amortization excludes amortization of debt issuance costs of $1.0 million for each of the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 and $3.2 million and $3.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.


⁽³⁾	Income from operations for Corporate includes costs attributed to announced acquisitions of $0.8 million and $23.8 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively. Income from operations for Metal Containers includes a $3.0 million charge for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 related to the resolution of a past non-commercial legal dispute.

Total segment income from operations is reconciled to income before income taxes as follows:



	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	Sept. 30, 2017		Sept. 30, 2016		Sept. 30, 2017		Sept. 30, 2016
	(Dollars in thousands)
Total segment income from operations	$	138,566	$	122,407	$	270,560	$	247,502
Interest and other debt expense	30,583		17,318		87,259		50,657
Income before income taxes	$	107,983	$	105,089	$	183,301	$	196,845

Sales and income from operations of our metal container business and part of our closures business are dependent, in part, upon fruit and vegetable harvests. The size and quality of these harvests varies from year to year, depending in large part upon the weather conditions in applicable regions. Because of the seasonality of the harvests, we have historically experienced higher unit sales volume in the third quarter of our fiscal year and generated a disproportionate amount of our annual income from operations during that quarter.