Earnings Per Share

9 Months Ended

Dec. 26, 2015

Note 3 – Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per common share (“EPS”) amounts are computed by dividing income available to common shareholders, after deducting preferred stock dividends, by the average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted EPS amounts assume the issuance of common stock for all potentially dilutive equivalent securities outstanding.

The following is a reconciliation of basic and diluted EPS for the respective periods:



	Quarter Ended				Nine Months Ended
	Fiscal December				Fiscal December
	2015		2014		2015		2014
	(Dollars in thousands,
	except per share data)
Numerator for earnings per common share calculation:
Net Income	$	15,231	$	15,986	$	52,902	$	49,248
Preferred stock dividends		(114)		(98)		(342)		(296)
Income available to common stockholders	$	15,117	$	15,888	$	52,560	$	48,952
Denominator for earnings per common share calculation:
Weighted average common shares, basic		32,077		31,596		31,966		31,558
Effect of dilutive securities:
Preferred stock		760		760		760		760
Stock options		496		481		609		514
Weighted average number of common shares, diluted		33,333		32,837		33,335		32,832
Basic Earnings per common share:	$	.47	$	.50	$	1.64	$	1.55
Diluted Earnings per common share:	$	.46	$	.49	$	1.59	$	1.50

The computation of diluted EPS excludes the effect of the assumed exercise of approximately 164,000 and 168,000 stock options for the three and nine months ended fiscal December 26, 2015, respectively, and 153,000 and 154,000 for the three and nine months ended December 27, 2014, respectively. Such amounts were excluded as the exercise prices of these stock options were greater than the average market value of our Common Stock for those periods, resulting in an anti-dilutive effect on diluted EPS.