Ashland has divested certain businesses that have qualified as discontinued operations. The operating results from these divested businesses and subsequent adjustments related to ongoing assessments of certain retained liabilities and tax items have been recorded within the discontinued operations caption in the Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss) for all periods presented and are discussed further within this note.

As previously described in Note B, Ashland has completed the previously announced sale of its Composites business (excluding the Maleic business) and butanediol manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany to INEOS. Ashland determined that this disposal group qualified as a discontinued operation, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, since it represents a strategic shift for Ashland and had a major effect on Ashland's operations and financial results. Accordingly, the operating results and cash flows for Composites business (including the Maleic business) and the Marl facility have been classified as discontinued operations within the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for all periods presented.

Components of amounts reflected in the Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss) related to discontinued operations are presented in the following table for the three months ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.

	Three months ended
	December 31
(In millions)	2019			2018
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of tax)
Composites/Marl facility	$	—		$	25
Valvoline		(1	)		—
Water Technologies		(1	)		(1	)
Distribution		—			(1	)
	$	(2	)	$	23

The following table presents a reconciliation of the captions within Ashland's Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the income (loss) from discontinued operations attributable to Composites and the Marl facility for the three months ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. Interest expense was allocated to discontinued operations based on Ashland’s mandatory debt prepayments upon the disposition of Composites and the Marl facility for applicable periods only. Although the Maleic business was not sold to INEOS, this business was operated under the Composites business and Marl facility disposal group and will continue to be reported in discontinued operations.

	Three months ended
	December 31
(In millions)	2019			2018
Income (loss) from discontinued operations attributable
to Composites/Marl facility
Sales	$	12		$	275
Cost of sales		(10	)		(217	)
Selling, general and administrative expense		(2	)		(22	)
Research and development expense		—			(3	)
Equity and other income		2			3
Pretax operating income of discontinued operations		2			36
Net interest and other financing expense		—			(6	)
Pretax income of discontinued operations		2			30
Income tax expense		(2	)		(5	)
Income from discontinued operations	$	—		$	25