Earnings per share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

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Earnings per share

8. Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit or loss attributable to equity shareholders of the company (earnings) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year, excluding ordinary shares purchased by the company and held as treasury shares.

Diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of ordinary shares to take account of all dilutive potential ordinary shares and adjusting the profit attributable, if applicable, to account for any tax consequences that might arise from conversion of those shares.

Certain contingently issuable shares vested on 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2022 but have not yet been issued, these shares are considered dilutive but do not materially impact basic EPS.

All figures in £ millions	2023			2022			2021
Earnings for the year		380			244			178
Non-controlling interest		(2	)		(2	)		(1	)
Earnings attributable to equity shareholders		378			242			177
Weighted average number of shares (millions)		711.5			738.1			754.1
Effect of dilutive share options (millions)		5.8			3.9			5.0
Weighted average number of shares (millions) for diluted earnings		717.3			742.0			759.1
Earnings per share (in pence per share)
Basic		53.1p			32.8p			23.5p
Diluted		52.7p			32.6p			23.3p