The board of BSE Ltd. has recommended the issue of two free shares for every one share held by its shareholders as on the record date. BSE made the announcement on Sunday, March 30.

This is the second instance since the company’s listing back in 2017 that the board considered a bonus issue of shares.

Record date for the proposed bonus issue is yet to be determined.

Earlier, Asia’s oldest stock exchange had issued two bonus shares to shareholders for every one share that they held (2:1) back in 2022.
The companies issue bonus shares to capitalise on their free reserves, increase their Earnings Per Share (EPS) and paid-up capital, along with reducing the reserves. Shareholders are issued these shares at no additional cost and hence are also known as free shares.

Only those investors will be eligible for bonus shares who will buy the stock before the ex-date. If an investor purchases the shares on the ex-date or after that, they will not be eligible to get bonus shares.

Since its listing, BSE has paid dividends worth over ₹170 per share, and also carried out buybacks of its equity shares, once in 2019 and the other in 2023.

“We will not run behind derivative market share. However, there should be a spread between 2 expiries,” BSE MD & CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy told CNBC-TV18 in a recent interaction.

“No probability can ever be ruled out; however, ascribing a high or low percentage to it is very difficult at this point,” the BSE MD and CEO said when asked about whether BSE will shift its options expiry date in response to NSE’s move.

Shares of BSE Ltd. closed 16.09% higher on Friday at ₹5,438. The stock is flat so far in 2025.