Earnings Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Disclosure Text Block

Earnings per Share

4. Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders is computed by dividing Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders is computed by dividing Net incomeattributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period adjusted to include the effects of potentially dilutive securities. Potentiallydilutive securities primarily include incremental shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options and the vesting of restricted stock units.

The amounts used in computing earnings per common share and the effects of potentially dilutive securities on the weighted average number of common shares were as follows:

		Three Months Ended
		March 31,
		2014		2013
(Dollars and shares in thousands, except per share amounts)
Net income attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$	19,482	$	4,914
Weighted average number of shares used in basic earnings per share			84,213		83,838
Effects of dilutive securities:
	Stock options		203		151
	Restricted stock units		649		599
Weighted average number of shares used in diluted earnings per share			85,065		84,588
Basic earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$	0.23	$	0.06
Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders		$	0.23	$	0.06

Certain Common Shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options or vesting of restricted stock units were not included in average diluted shares outstanding for the calculation of Diluted earnings per share attributable to U.S. Cellular shareholders because their effects were antidilutive. The number of such Common Shares excluded, if any, is shown in the table below.

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2014	2013
(Shares in thousands)
Stock options	1,276	2,226
Restricted stock units	-	1

On June 25, 2013, U.S. Cellular paid a special cash dividend of $5.75 per share, for an aggregate amount of $482.3 million, to all holders of U.S. Cellular Common Shares and Series A Common Shares as of June 11, 2013. Outstanding U.S. Cellular stock options and restricted stock unit awards were equitably adjusted for the special cash dividend. The impact of such adjustments on the earnings per share calculation was reflected for all periods presented.