After hefty payouts, it's raining bonus

After distributing hefty dividends to its shareholders, India Inc is now liberally offering bonus shares. In the first two-and-a-half months of the current financial year (April-mid-June), 29 companies proposed bonus shares.

The range of offer runs from a conservative level of one share for every two shares held to as liberal as 12 shares for every share.

During the corresponding period last year 21 companies had proposed bonus shares.

Of the 29 companies that proposed bonus shares, nine companies issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 -- one share give for every one share held and six companies offered in the ratio of one share for every two shares held.

Nine companies were liberal in their offers with the ratio ranging from two shares for one held to 12 shares for one held.

Core Project and Technologies offered the most liberal bonus issue of 12:1, followed by Jay Bharat Sarees in the ratio of 9:1.

Ruchi Infrastructures, Eltrol and Aeonion Investments each offered three bonus shares for every one share held while Vijay Textiles, KSL & Industries, Vishal Exports and Swaraj Engines declared bonus issues in the ratio of 2:1.

The bonus issues by the listed companies in the current calendar year may create a new record in recent times. In the first six months of the calendar year 2005, as many as 45 companies declared or proposed bonus issues.

In the entire calendar year 2004, 54 companies had offered bonus shares.

The corporate India issued maximum number of bonus issues in calendar year 1995 when 104 companies declared bonus issues.

In the very next year, 70 companies offered bonus shares. Forty-five 45 companies declared bonus issues in 1997, 44 in 2000, 37 in 1998, 35 in 1999, 27 in 2002 and 26 in 2001.