23 May , 2025 By : Debdeep Gupta
Shares of BSE fell by 65 percent to Rs 2,395 apiece on May 23 as the stock began trading ex-bonus for its 2:1 bonus issue. This means today is the first day the shares are trading without the value of the upcoming bonus shares, and the last day for investors to be eligible for the bonus was May 22.
Shareholders who are on record as of May 22, 2025, will receive bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1. This means for every one equity share they hold, they will get two additional fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 2 each, free of cost.
This timeline is governed by the T 1 settlement system followed in Indian equity markets, where trades are settled one working day after the transaction date. Therefore, to be eligible for the bonus shares, investors needed to purchase BSE shares by May 22 so that the trade would be settled and reflected in their demat accounts by May 23.
This is only the second time since BSE got listed in 2017 that the board has approved a bonus issue.
Companies generally issue bonus shares to convert their free reserves into share capital. This helps in increasing the number of outstanding shares, which usually reduces the Earnings Per Share (EPS) and boosts the paid-up capital, while simultaneously reducing the reserves. Since these bonus shares are issued at no extra cost to the shareholders, they are also referred to as free shares.
In addition to the ex-bonus adjustment, BSE stock also faced selling pressure due to reports that SEBI is reviewing NSE’s proposal to shift the weekly index options expiry day to Tuesday.
Reacting to this development, global brokerage firm Goldman Sachs maintained a 'Neutral' rating on BSE and set a price target of Rs 5,340.
According to Goldman Sachs, if this proposed change is approved, BSE’s market share in index options premiums could drop by around 3 to 4 percentage points, or roughly 15 percent. This would lower its share to 18.8 percent from the current 22.2 percent, based on year-to-date trends.
The brokerage also noted that 24 percent of index options premiums in India have been traded on Tuesdays so far this year, which is significantly higher compared to the 16 to 19 percent seen on other weekdays.
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