Note 5. Earnings Per Common Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Earnings Per Share [Text Block]

Note 5.    Earnings Per Common Share

We are authorized to issue 500,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.25 par value per share, of which 285,298,389 shares were issued and outstanding at March 31, 2012.

The following table reconciles weighted average common shares used in the computations of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 (thousands, except per-share amounts):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2012			2011
Numerator
Net income	$	12,572		$	43,357
Preferred stock dividends	(138		)	(138		)
Net income applicable to common shares for basic and diluted earnings per share	$	12,434		$	43,219
Denominator
Basic weighted average common shares	285,292			278,448
Dilutive stock options and restricted stock	11,636			17,796
Diluted weighted average common shares	296,928			296,244
Basic earnings per common share
Net income applicable to common shares	$	0.04		$	0.16
Diluted earnings per common share
Net income applicable to common shares	$	0.04		$	0.15

Diluted income per share for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 excludes the potential effects of outstanding shares of our convertible preferred stock, as their conversion and exercise would have no effect on the calculation of dilutive shares.

Options to purchase 823,668 shares of our common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012.  For the three-month period ended March 31, 2011, options to purchase 313,388 shares of our common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share.  In each case, the exercise price of the options not included in the computations of diluted earnings per share exceeded the average price of our stock during those periods and therefore would not affect the calculation of earnings per share.