The following information is excerpted from the financial statements in a recent annual report of Esper Corporation. (Dollar figures and shares of stock are in thousands.)

Extraordinary loss on extinguishment of debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ (8,490)

Loss from continuing operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $(16,026)

Income from discontinued operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,215

Preferred stock dividend requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ (2,778)

Weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding . . . . . . . . . . . 39,739

Instructions

a. Rearrange the items to present in good form the last portion of the income statement for Esper Corporation, beginning with “Loss from continuing operations.”

b. Calculate the amount of net loss per share for the period. (Do not calculate per-share amounts for subtotals, such as income from continuing operations, loss before extraordinary items, etc.

You are required to compute only single earnings per share amount.)