EPS or Earnings per share, is the net profit earned by the company divided by the number of outstanding equity shares. If any preference dividend is declared, it is subtracted from the net profit.

Eg: A company earned net profit of Rs. 100 crore for FY10. It has 5 crore outstanding equity shares. No fresh issue of equity shares was made during the year, implying that the weighted average number of equity shares outstanding during the period is 5 crore.

 EPS =                            Net profit earned during the period                           

             Weighted average number of equity shares outstanding during the period

EPS = 100 / 5

EPS = Rs. 20