page 73 of 98 notes to consolidated financial statements ball corporation and subsidiaries 15 . shareholders 2019 equity at december 31 , 2006 , the company had 550 million shares of common stock and 15 million shares of preferred stock authorized , both without par value . preferred stock includes 120000 authorized but unissued shares designated as series a junior participating preferred stock . under the company 2019s shareholder rights agreement dated july 26 , 2006 , one preferred stock purchase right ( right ) is attached to each outstanding share of ball corporation common stock . subject to adjustment , each right entitles the registered holder to purchase from the company one one-thousandth of a share of series a junior participating preferred stock at an exercise price of $ 185 per right . if a person or group acquires 10 percent or more of the company 2019s outstanding common stock ( or upon occurrence of certain other events ) , the rights ( other than those held by the acquiring person ) become exercisable and generally entitle the holder to purchase shares of ball corporation common stock at a 50 percent discount . the rights , which expire in 2016 , are redeemable by the company at a redemption price of $ 0.001 per right and trade with the common stock . exercise of such rights would cause substantial dilution to a person or group attempting to acquire control of the company without the approval of ball 2019s board of directors . the rights would not interfere with any merger or other business combinations approved by the board of directors . the company reduced its share repurchase program in 2006 to $ 45.7 million , net of issuances , compared to $ 358.1 million net repurchases in 2005 and $ 50 million in 2004 . the net repurchases in 2006 did not include a forward contract entered into in december 2006 for the repurchase of 1200000 shares . the contract was settled on january 5 , 2007 , for $ 51.9 million in cash . in connection with the employee stock purchase plan , the company contributes 20 percent of up to $ 500 of each participating employee 2019s monthly payroll deduction toward the purchase of ball corporation common stock . company contributions for this plan were $ 3.2 million in 2006 , $ 3.2 million in 2005 and $ 2.7 million in 2004 . accumulated other comprehensive earnings ( loss ) the activity related to accumulated other comprehensive earnings ( loss ) was as follows : ( $ in millions ) foreign currency translation pension and postretirement items , net of tax effective financial derivatives , net of tax accumulated comprehensive earnings ( loss ) .

foreign currency translation: december 31 2003: 80.7
2004 change: 68.2
december 31 2004: 148.9
2005 change: -74.3
december 31 2005: 74.6
2006 change: 57.2
december 31 2006: 131.8
pension and other postretirement items net of tax: december 31 2003: -93.1
2004 change: -33.2
december 31 2004: -126.3
2005 change: -43.6
december 31 2005: -169.9
2006 change: 8
december 31 2006: -161.9
effective financial derivatives net of tax: december 31 2003: 11
2004 change: -0.4
december 31 2004: 10.6
2005 change: -16
december 31 2005: -5.4
2006 change: 6
december 31 2006: 0.6
accumulated other comprehensive earnings ( loss ): december 31 2003: -1.4
2004 change: 34.6
december 31 2004: 33.2
2005 change: -133.9
december 31 2005: -100.7
2006 change: 71.2
december 31 2006: -29.5

notwithstanding the 2005 distribution pursuant to the jobs act , management 2019s intention is to indefinitely reinvest foreign earnings . therefore , no taxes have been provided on the foreign currency translation component for any period . the change in the minimum pension liability is presented net of related tax expense of $ 2.9 million for 2006 and related tax benefits of $ 27.3 million and $ 20.8 million for 2005 and 2004 , respectively . the change in the effective financial derivatives is presented net of related tax expense of $ 5.7 million for 2006 , related tax benefit of $ 10.7 million for 2005 and related tax benefit of $ 0.2 million for 2004. .

Questions:
what was the difference in repurchases between 2005 and 2006?
and the value for 2005 specifically?
and so what was the percentage reduction?

Answers:
312.4
358.1
87.2%