LETTER : A good option for directors

May I correct SG Grant's assertion (Letters, 19 February) that directors' share options in newly- privatised utilities would have had no value at the time they were given. On the contrary, had such options been quotable on the Stock Exchange, they would have stood at a premium to existing share prices, as options normally do.

Of course, directors (at no cost) were betting on something approaching a certainty, as the profits could be increased simply by sacking staff.

Ronald Eyres

London NW5