In the 1999 Annual Repor t and Accounts of Associated British Por ts Holdings plc, the directors repor t earnings per share – basic, and earnings per share – underlying, as follows:

Underlying Goodwill Exceptional Total amor tisation items 1999 1998

£m £m £m £m £m Profit on ordinar y activities after tax attributable to shareholders 86.3 (3.8) (76.9) 5.6 84.1 Dividends (39.4) — — (39.4) (37.2)

Retained profit/(loss) 46.9 (3.8) (76.9) (33.8) 46.9 Earnings per share – basic 24.6 (1.1) (21.9) 1.6p 22.4p Earnings per share – underlying 24.6p 22.4p Note 11 Reconciliation of profit used for calculating the basic and underlying earnings per share:

1999 1998 £m £m Profit for year attributable to shareholders for calculating basic earnings per share 5.6 84.1 Amor tisation of goodwill 3.8 2.0 Impairment of goodwill 60.6 —
Impairment of fixed assets 19.6 —
Profit on sale of fixed assets (3.3) (1.2)
Withdrawal from a discontinued business — (1.2)
Attributable tax — 0.3 Profit for year attributable to shareholders for calculating the underlying earnings per share 86.3 84.0 The directors state that the underlying basis is a more appropriate basis for comparing per formance between periods.
Discuss the relevance of the basic figure of 1.6p repor ted for 1999.