17. Shareholders’ Equity and Comprehensive Earnings

Under its ongoing share repurchase program, the company repurchased $439 million of its shares, net of issuances, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, and an additional $89 million was repurchased during October 2018. Share repurchases, net of issuances, totaled $85 million for the first nine months of 2017. The company expects net share repurchases for the full year 2018 to exceed $700 million.

In August 2017, in a privately negotiated transaction, Ball entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to buy $100 million of its common shares using cash on hand and available borrowings, and the company received 2.5 million shares.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Earnings (Loss)

The activity related to accumulated other comprehensive earnings (loss) was as follows:


($ in millions)	Foreign Currency Translation (Net of Tax)		Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits (Net of Tax)		Effective Derivatives (Net of Tax)		Accumulated Other Comprehensive Earnings (Loss)

Balance at December 31, 2017	$	(307)	$	(362)	$	13	$	(656)
Other comprehensive earnings (loss) before reclassifications		(156)		24		35		(97)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive earnings (loss)		—		25		(72)		(47)
Balance at September 30, 2018	$	(463)	$	(313)	$	(24)	$	(800)

The following table provides additional details of the amounts recognized into net earnings from accumulated other comprehensive earnings (loss):


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
($ in millions)	2018		2017		2018		2017

Gains (losses) on cash flow hedges:
Commodity contracts recorded in net sales	$	2	$	—	$	(2)	$	(3)
Commodity contracts recorded in cost of sales		19		12		47		34
Currency exchange contracts recorded in selling, general and administrative		—		1		1		(2)
Currency exchange contracts recorded in business consolidation and other activities		—		(3)		—		—
Cross-currency swaps recorded in selling, general and administrative		7		(35)		37		(119)
Cross-currency swaps recorded in interest expense		4		3		10		13
Total before tax effect		32		(22)		93		(77)
Tax benefit (expense) on amounts reclassified into earnings		(8)		15		(21)		12
Recognized gain (loss), net of tax	$	24	$	(7)	$	72	$	(65)

Amortization of pension and other postretirement benefits: (a)
Prior service income (expense)	$	—	$	(1)	$	—	$	(1)
Actuarial gains (losses) (b)		(15)		(48)		(34)		(65)
Total before tax effect		(15)		(49)		(34)		(66)
Tax benefit (expense) on amounts reclassified into earnings		4		19		9		25
Recognized gain (loss), net of tax	$	(11)	$	(30)	$	(25)	$	(41)

(a)

The pension components are included in the computation of net periodic benefit cost disclosed in Note 16.

(b)

Includes curtailment and settlement losses. Refer to Note 16 for further details.