Investors eyeing the upcoming bonus issue of Patanjali Foods need to act fast, as today is the last trading day to purchase shares and become eligible. The company has fixed Thursday, September 11, as the record date, and only shareholders on the books by then will receive the additional shares.

Patanjali Foods recently declared a 2:1 bonus issue, meaning that shareholders will receive two additional equity shares for every one share held as on the record date. This corporate action is intended to reward existing shareholders by increasing their shareholding proportionately without requiring additional investment.

The record date of September 11 implies that investors must own the shares of Patanjali Foods by the end of today’s trading session to be eligible. In the Indian stock market, trades are settled on a T+1 basis (trade date plus one business day). Therefore, only those investors whose purchase transactions are completed by today will have their names reflected in the company’s books as shareholders on the record date.

Bonus shares are issued by companies by capitalizing their free reserves, securities premium, or retained earnings. While the overall value of an investor’s holding does not change immediately after the bonus issuance, the number of shares held increases, and the share price typically adjusts in proportion to the bonus ratio.

Investors who miss today’s deadline will not be eligible for the bonus issue and will have to wait for any future such announcements by the company. The bonus shares, once allotted, will be credited directly into the demat accounts of eligible shareholders in due course.

On Tuesday, the shares of Patanjali Foods closed flat at Rs 1,802 on the BSE.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)