Earnings Per Share

The following table reconciles net income and loss and the weighted average ordinary shares outstanding for basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the periods presented:



	Three months ended March 31,
(In millions)	2018		2017
Income from continuing operations, net of taxes	$	550.6	$	354.8
Gain from discontinued operations, net of taxes	—		20.2
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share	$	550.6	$	375.0

Weighted average number of shares:
Basic	909.5		904.1
Effect of dilutive shares:
Share-based awards to employees	2.6		7.7
Diluted	912.1		911.8

Weighted average number of basic shares excludes shares purchased by the Employee Benefit Trust and those under the shares buy-back program, which are both presented by Shire as treasury stock. Share-based awards to employees are calculated using the treasury method.

The share equivalents not included in the calculation of the diluted weighted average number of shares are shown below:



	Three months ended March 31,
(Number of shares in millions)	2018	2017
Share-based awards to employees	15.9	7.3

Certain stock options have been excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 because either their exercise prices exceeded Shire’s average share price during the calculation period, the required performance conditions were not satisfied as of the balance sheet date or their inclusion would have been antidilutive.