BUSINESS SEGMENTS

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

BUSINESS SEGMENTS

(I) Business Segments

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise that engage in business activities that earn revenue, incur expenses, and prepare separate financial information that is evaluated regularly by our chief operating decision maker in order to allocate resources and assess performance. On September 18, 2020, we sold our Oil and Gas Proppants business, which had been reported as an operating segment. The Oil and Gas Proppants business was determined to meet the discontinued operations accounting criteria; therefore, this segment is no longer separately reported in our reportable segment footnote for any of the periods presented. Certain expenses of the Oil and Gas Proppants business that related to assets not included in the sale, namely real property and equipment in south Texas, real property in Illinois, and certain other assets, are included in Other when reconciling segment operating earnings to consolidated operating earnings. See Footnote (C) for more information about the sale of the Oil and Gas Proppants business.

Our business is organized into two sectors within which there are four reportable business segments. The Heavy Materials sector includes the Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments. The Light Materials sector includes the Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments.

Our primary products are commodities that are essential in commercial and residential construction; public construction projects; and projects to build, expand, and repair roads and highways. Demand for our products is generally cyclical and seasonal, depending on economic and geographic conditions. We distribute our products across many United States markets, which provides us with regional economic diversification. Our operations are conducted in the U.S. and include the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of portland cement (a basic construction material that is the essential binding ingredient in concrete); the grinding and sale of slag; the mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboard; the manufacture and sale of recycled paperboard to the gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters; the sale of readymix concrete; and the mining and sale of aggregates (crushed stone, sand, and gravel).

We operate eight modern cement plants (one of which is operated through a joint venture located in Buda, Texas), one slag grinding facility, and 29 cement distribution terminals. Our cement companies focus on the U.S. heartland and operate as an integrated network selling product primarily in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas. We operate 26 readymix concrete batch plants and three aggregates processing plants in markets that are complementary to our cement network. On April 17, 2020, we sold our Concrete and Aggregates companies in northern California. See Footnote (C) for more information about the sale.

We operate five gypsum wallboard plants and a recycled paperboard mill. We distribute gypsum wallboard and recycled paperboard throughout the continental U.S., with the exception of the Northeast.

We account for intersegment sales at market prices. For segment reporting purposes only, we proportionately consolidate our 50% share of the Joint Venture Revenue and Operating Earnings, consistent with the way management reports the segments within the Company for making operating decisions and assessing performance.

The following tables below set forth certain financial information relating to our operations by segment. We do not allocate interest or taxes at the segment level, only at the consolidated company level.

	For the Years Ended March 31,
	2022			2021			2020
	(dollars in thousands)
Revenue
Cement	$	1,007,094		$	944,556		$	752,002
Concrete and Aggregates		177,122			168,829			182,775
Gypsum Wallboard		692,152			539,009			508,145
Paperboard		194,054			163,507			159,963
		2,070,422			1,815,901			1,602,885
Less: Intersegment Revenue		(105,001	)		(88,068	)		(85,316	)
Less: Joint Venture Revenue		(103,899	)		(105,191	)		(113,536	)
	$	1,861,522		$	1,622,642		$	1,404,033

	For the Years Ended March 31,
	2022		2021		2020
	(dollars in thousands)
Intersegment Revenue
Cement	$	22,915	$	20,862	$	21,499
Concrete and Aggregates		—		106		1,502
Paperboard		82,086		67,100		62,315
	$	105,001	$	88,068	$	85,316
Cement Sales Volume (M tons)
Wholly Owned		6,711		6,576		4,975
Joint Venture		823		890		956
		7,534		7,466		5,931

	For the Years Ended March 31,
	2022				2021			2020
				(dollars in thousands)
Operating Earnings
Cement	$	259,556			$	233,957		$	181,330
Concrete and Aggregates		18,467				19,054			17,558
Gypsum Wallboard		261,476				167,336			154,614
Paperboard		12,603				25,449			34,979
Other		—				—			(3,230	)
Sub-Total		552,102				445,796			385,251
Corporate General and Administrative Expense		(46,801	)			(49,511	)		(65,410	)
Loss on Early Retirement of Senior Notes		(8,407	)			—			—
Gain on Sale of Businesses		—				51,973			—
Impairment Losses		—				—			(25,131	)
Other Non-Operating Income (Loss)		9,073				20,274			(594	)
Earnings Before Interest and Income Taxes		505,967				468,532			294,116
Interest Expense, net		(30,873	)			(44,420	)		(38,421	)
Earnings Before Income Taxes	$	475,094			$	424,112		$	255,695
Cement Operating Earnings
Wholly Owned	$	227,068			$	196,516		$	138,745
Joint Venture		32,488				37,441			42,585
	$	259,556			$	233,957		$	181,330
Capital Expenditures
Cement	$	31,535			$	26,708		$	44,776
Concrete and Aggregates		5,239				3,114			11,898
Gypsum Wallboard		32,405				12,889			12,771
Paperboard		2,579				11,222			62,528
Corporate and Other		2,363				—			—
	$	74,121			$	53,933		$	131,973
Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization
Cement	$	79,560			$	77,524		$	59,081
Concrete and Aggregates		9,656				10,807			11,142
Gypsum Wallboard		22,024				21,646			20,320
Paperboard		14,721				13,913			8,945
Corporate and Other		2,850				4,976			2,720
	$	128,811			$	128,866		$	102,208
Discontinued Operations
Capital Expenditures	$	—			$	—		$	146
Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization	$	—			$	221		$	11,310

	As of March 31,
	2022		2021		2020
	(dollars in thousands)
Identifiable Assets
Cement	$	1,860,649	$	1,898,930	$	1,980,306
Concrete and Aggregates		89,405		88,410		136,041
Gypsum Wallboard		397,486		366,352		375,946
Paperboard		180,025		186,156		183,288
Assets of Discontinued Operations		—		—		13,831
Corporate and Other, net		52,087		298,833		271,608
	$	2,579,652	$	2,838,681	$	2,961,020

Segment Operating Earnings, including the proportionately consolidated 50% interest in the revenue and expenses of the Joint Venture, represent Revenue less direct operating expenses, segment Depreciation, and segment Selling, General, and Administrative expenses. Segment Operating Earnings don’t include certain nonrecurring losses, such as impairment and legal settlements. We account for intersegment sales at market prices. Corporate assets consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, general office assets, and miscellaneous other assets.

The basis used to disclose Identifiable Assets; Capital Expenditures; and Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization conforms with the equity method, and is similar to how we disclose these accounts in our Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

The segment breakdown of Goodwill at March 31, 2022 and 2021 is as follows:

	For the Years Ended March 31,
	2022		2021
	(dollars in thousands)
Cement	$	203,342	$	203,342
Concrete and Aggregates		1,639		1,639
Gypsum Wallboard		116,618		116,618
Paperboard		7,538		7,538
	$	329,137	$	329,137