pre_text: 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.
table: Years ended December 31
table: (In millions of dollars, except per share amounts) 2019 2018
table: Numerator (basic) – Net income for the year 2,043 2,059
table: Denominator – Number of shares (in millions): Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic 512 515
table: Effect of dilutive securities (in millions): Employee stock options and restricted share units 1 1
table: Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted 513 516
table: Earnings per share:
table: Basic $3.99 $4.00
table: Diluted $3.97 $3.99
question: Analyse this data from a financial earnings document. What is the increase/ (decrease) in Basic Earnings per share from 2018 to 2019?