IWP, the household products and distribution company, has paid £3.2 million to cancel warrants on 3.36 million company shares in a move aimed at improving earnings per share. IWP's chief executive, Mr Joe Moran, said the move should help earnings per share by about 1/2p. The warrants - rights to subscribe for IWP shares at a price of 200p per share - were exercisable up to March 31st, 1998. They were held by Dutch institutions Mees Pierson and ABN AMRO. The cancellation of the warrants protects IWP earnings per share from the dilution that would have occurred had the new shares been issued to the warrant holders.

These were expected to exercise their warrants because, at the current share price of 325p, they stood to make about 100p per share, Mr Moran explained.

Mees Pierson and ABN would have ended up with about 5 per cent of IWP if they had exercised the warrants.