Coca-Cola to book cost of stock options
Coca-Cola has announced it will book the cost of stock options as an expense in its accounts, potentially knocking millions of dollars off its profits.
The news will be greeted with cheers at the International Accounting Standards Board which is due to publish a draft rule on accounting for stock options in the autumn.
The IASB’s greatest stumbling block to the acceptance of its proposals is corporate America which successfully lobbied in the 1990s against the US standard setter’s attempts to force companies to book stock options as an expense.
Coca-Cola said it would begin charging the cost of stock options at fair value at the date the options are granted to its accounts from the fourth quarter of 2002.
A statement said: ‘The company expects minimal financial impact in the current year from the adoption of this accounting methodology. If the board of directors grants options in 2002 at a similar level to 2001, the expected impact would be approximately $0.01 per share for 2002.’