What is a Stock Split

In our recent post, we studied about the Bonus Issue.

To summarize, what we read
Share-holders get bonus shares from company's earnings in compensation of dividend. But we also realized that the overall wealth of the shareholder does not increase because of the drop in share price post the bonus issue.

Most readers seem to have some confusion about whether bonus issue and stock splits are the same or not.  They may appear to be the same especially in the eyes of a person not well-versed in finance. But they are, in fact, two different things.



WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Simply put- A bonus is a free additional share. A stock split is the same share split into two.

Usually companies accumulate it’s earnings in reserve funds instead of paying it to share-holders in form of dividend. This accumulated reserve fund is then converted into share-capital and allotted to share-holders as bonus shares in proportion to their existing holding. So, Share-capital of the company increases with a concomitant decrease in its Reserve profits. Share-holders get bonus shares in compensation of dividend.

But when a share is split, say, from Rs 10 denomination to Re 1 denomination, there would neither be an increase in the share capital nor a concomitant decrease in the reserves of the company. This is because while in a bonus issue a person having one share of Rs 10 face value would get another share of the same face value should the company go for a 1:1 bonus what would happen in a stock split is his one Rs 10 share would now be converted into ten Re 1 shares.


WHY DOES A COMPANY SPLIT IT’S STOCK?
The primary reason is to infuse additional liquidity into the shares by making them more affordable. It needs to be reiterated here that the shares only appear to be cheaper, though it makes no difference whether you buy one share for Rs 3,000 or two for Rs1,500 each.

WHY DOES MARKET CHEER STOCK SPLITS?
Stock market interprets a stock split as a statement of confidence by the company – it interprets a split as a signal from the company that it is confident about its future growth. Also, a stock split increases the number of shares traded in the market, which increases liquidity.These factors are considered positive, and therefore the market reacts positively!

CONCLUSION
So, if you are an investor in the company, you have reason to celebrate when you get a bonus. But don’t celebrate when your company splits stock. It’s is just a technical change in the face value of the stock. But if you want to buy more shares, it is good news because now, you will be able to afford them or at least get them cheaper!

Cheers

 

Manoj Arora