Table:
|  | Years ended December 31 |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| (In millions of dollars, except per share amounts) | 2019 | 2018 |
| Numerator (basic) – Net income for the year | 2,043 | 2,059 |
| Denominator – Number of shares (in millions): Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic | 512 | 515 |
| Effect of dilutive securities (in millions): Employee stock options and restricted share units | 1 | 1 |
| Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted | 513 | 516 |
| Earnings per share: |  |  |
| Basic | $3.99 | $4.00 |
| Diluted | $3.97 | $3.99 |
Paragraphs:
EXPLANATORY INFORMATION
For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, accounting for outstanding share-based payments using the equity-settled method for stock-based compensation was determined to be more dilutive than using the cash-settled method. As a result, net income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was reduced by $6 million (2018 – $2 million) in the diluted earnings per share calculation.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, there were 1,077,875 options out of the money (2018 – 37,715) for purposes of the calculation of earnings per share. These options were excluded from the calculation of the effect of dilutive securities because they were anti-dilutive.
Question:
What is the increase/ (decrease) in Basic Earnings per share from 2018 to 2019?
Answer: 3.99-4.00 = -0.01