Earnings per share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

(a) Basic

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of the Group by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period excluding ordinary shares held as treasury shares (Note 23).


	2023	2022	2021
Profit from operations attributable to equity holders of the Group	226,291	108,138	130,669
Weighted average number of shares in issue (thousands)	107,092	110,079	115,148
Basic earnings per share	2.113	0.982	1.135

(b) Diluted

Diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of shares outstanding to assume conversion of all dilutive potential shares. The Group has two categories of dilutive potential shares: equity-settled share options and restricted units. For these instruments, a calculation is done to determine the number of shares that could have been acquired at fair value, based on the monetary value of the subscription rights attached to outstanding share options. The number of shares calculated as above is compared with the number of shares that would have been issued assuming the exercise of the equity-settled share options. During 2023, the share options outstanding average were 401 thousands (2022: 361 thousands; 2021: 466 thousands) share options outstanding.


	2023	2022	2021
Profit from operations attributable to equity holders of the Group	226,291	108,138	130,669
Weighted average number of shares in issue (thousands)	107,092	110,079	115,148
Adjustments for:
- Employee share options and restricted units (thousands)	401	361	466
Weighted average number of shares for diluted earnings per share (thousands)	107,493	110,440	115,614
Diluted earnings per share	2.105	0.979	1.130