-272- LINCOLN NATIONAL CORPORATION EXHIBIT 11 - COMPUTATION OF PER SHARE EARNINGS Year Ended December 31 1996 1995 1994 PRIMARY Average shares outstanding (assuming conversion of series A, E and F preferred stock) ---------------------- 104,560,880 104,115,650 103,863,196 Net effect of dilutive stock options (based on the treasury stock method using average market price) ---- 855,470 701,494 506,601 Total shares outstanding ------------ 105,416,350 104,817,144 104,369,797 FULLY DILUTED Average shares outstanding (assuming conversion of Series A, E and F preferred stock) ---------------------- 104,560,880 104,115,650 103,863,196 Net effect of dilutive stock options (based on the treasury stock method using the year-end market price, if higher than average market price) -- 1,011,636 1,115,139 506,764 Total shares outstanding ------------ 105,572,516 105,230,789 104,369,960 DOLLAR INFORMATION (000's Omitted) Net Income ---------------------------- $513,558 $482,186 $349,898 NET INCOME PER SHARE Primary ------------------------------- $4.87 $4.60 $3.35 Fully Diluted ------------------------- $4.86 $4.58 $3.35 Notes: 1. Earnings per share are computed based on the average number of common shares outstanding during each year after assuming conversion of the series A, E and F preferred stock. 2. LNC did not include the dilutive impact of the stock option program in the computation of the earnings per share information appearing in the consolidated financial statements since it was immaterial.