3. Business Segment Information

Ball’s operations are organized and reviewed by management along its product lines and geographical areas and presented in the five reportable segments outlined below:

Beverage packaging, North and Central America: Consists of operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico that manufacture and sell metal beverage containers throughout those countries.

Beverage packaging, South America: Consists of operations in Brazil, Argentina and Chile that manufacture and sell metal beverage containers throughout most of South America.

Beverage packaging, Europe: Consists of operations in numerous countries in Europe, including Russia, that manufacture and sell metal beverage containers throughout most of Europe.

Food and aerosol packaging: Consists of operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and India that manufacture and sell steel food and aerosol containers, extruded aluminum aerosol containers and aluminum slugs.

Aerospace: Consists of operations that manufacture and sell aerospace and other related products and provide services used in the defense, civil space and commercial space industries.

As presented below, other consists of non-reportable segments in Africa, Middle East and Asia (AMEA) and Asia Pacific that manufacture and sell metal beverage containers, undistributed corporate expenses, intercompany eliminations and other business activities.

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those in the consolidated financial statements and are discussed in Note 1. The company also has investments in operations in Guatemala, Panama, South Korea, the U.S. and Vietnam that are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and, accordingly, those results are not included in segment sales or earnings.

On July 31, 2018, Ball sold its U.S. steel food and steel aerosol packaging business and formed a joint venture, Ball Metalpack. Beginning in the third quarter 2018, Ball’s 49 percent ownership of Ball Metalpack's financial results will be reported in equity in results of affiliates within Ball's consolidated statements of earnings. The financial results of Ball's existing global aluminum aerosol and Argentine tinplate steel aerosol businesses will be reported as a non-reportable segment within Other. For comparative periods, the entire former food and aerosol packaging reportable segment will be reported as a non-reportable segment within Other in the tables of this footnote. At June 30, 2018, the assets and liabilities of the U.S. steel food and steel aerosol business are presented as held for sale on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Summary of Business by Segment


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
($ in millions)	2018		2017		2018		2017

Net sales
Beverage packaging, North and Central America	$	1,241	$	1,151	$	2,276	$	2,100
Beverage packaging, South America		379		349		838		720
Beverage packaging, Europe		703		665		1,312		1,173
Food and aerosol packaging		304		274		579		546
Aerospace		290		257		554		493
Reportable segment sales		2,917		2,696		5,559		5,032
Other		184		159		327		296
Net sales	$	3,101	$	2,855	$	5,886	$	5,328

Comparable operating earnings
Beverage packaging, North and Central America (b)	$	157	$	156	$	270	$	279
Beverage packaging, South America (b)		66		69		164		127
Beverage packaging, Europe (b)		75		63		135		110
Food and aerosol packaging		32		25		55		46
Aerospace		24		26		49		47
Reportable segment comparable operating earnings		354		339		673		609
Reconciling items
Other (a)(b)		(2)		(21)		(21)		(52)
Business consolidation and other activities		(69)		(41)		(99)		(96)
Amortization of acquired Rexam intangibles		(40)		(51)		(84)		(83)
Catch-up depreciation and amortization for 2016 from finalization of Rexam valuation		—		(39)		—		(39)
Earnings before interest and taxes		243		187		469		339
Interest expense		(77)		(74)		(150)		(142)
Debt refinancing and other costs		—		(1)		(1)		(1)
Total interest expense		(77)		(75)		(151)		(143)
Earnings before taxes	$	166	$	112	$	318	$	196

(a)

Includes undistributed corporate expenses, net, of $21 million and $32 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $43 million and $77 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

(b)

The three months ended June 30, 2017, includes catch-up depreciation for the three months ended March 31, 2017, from the finalization of fair values and useful lives for the Rexam acquisition associated with the following segments: $8 million for beverage packaging, Europe; $1 million for beverage packaging, North and Central America; $1 million for beverage packaging, South America;and $1 million for Other.

The company does not disclose total assets by segment as it is not provided to the chief operating decision maker.