Bonus shares in 2024

A company converts part of its accumulated profits or other reserves into new shares and gives them to shareholders in proportion to their holding. A 1 for 1 bonus gives one new share for every share held. No cash changes hands, and the share price adjusts down as the share count rises.

The page includes every bonus issue whose ex-date fell in 2024, grouped by month with the latest ex-date first. Each company links to its bonus and split history. Reliance Industries gave 1 for 1 in Oct 2024 and Wipro 1 for 1 in Dec 2024.

The record date is the day the company checks its register to see who is entitled to the bonus. The ex-date is the first day the share trades without that entitlement. Since trades settle one working day after they are made (T+1), the ex-date and record date usually fall on the same day.

SEBI shortened the timetable in 2024: for bonus issues announced from 1 Oct 2024, the new shares are allotted on the working day after the record date and trade from the working day after that.

A ratio such as 1 for 2 means one new share for every two held. A stock split divides the face value of each share, while a bonus adds shares and leaves face value unchanged. Charts adjust earlier prices for both.

SEBI's issue rules set the conditions: the bonus must come from free reserves, share premium collected in cash or the capital redemption reserve, never from revaluation reserves, and the company's articles must permit it. A bonus cannot be declared in place of a dividend. It must be completed within 15 days of the board's approval, or two months where shareholders must also approve it.