Grant Thornton Survey Looks at Equity Plans for Broad Range of Companies

A new Grant Thornton survey of 227 organizations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises, 87% of which are for-profit corporations, found that 37% of public companies plan to increase the number of shares available for awards in 2009, 34% will make no changes, and 28% will decrease the number. Of private companies (39% of the sample), 71% will not make changes, with about the same number going up as down among the rest. Most of the companies granting more shares, however, will not grant enough to make the present value of the grants comparable with what it was in prior years. More than half the respondents said that 75% or more of their options were underwater. Only 47% of public companies are not considering repricing options and 7% already have, compared with the 64% of private companies that are not considering repricing and 5% that already have.