In a PSX rights issue, a company offers existing shareholders additional shares for cash on stated terms; in a bonus issue, the company issues bonus shares under a board-approved decision. A rights offer is a choice to assess and respond to. A bonus issue is not a cash subscription offer. For either event, read the company’s own notice and offer documents: they set out the terms that apply to that company.
What a rights issue asks of shareholders
For a company issuing right shares, the SECP Companies (Further Issue of Shares) Regulations 2020 require the board to decide the quantum and size of a rights issue, its issue price and its purpose. Rights shares are issued only for cash. The company sends an offer letter to members under section 83(3) of the Companies Act.
That offer letter is the place to check how many shares are offered, the price, the purpose, and how and by when to respond. The regulations say fractions are not offered; fractional entitlements are consolidated and disposed of. Do not assume the terms of one company’s offer apply to another.
For scale, a historical example, not a current offer, is Crescent Star Insurance Ltd’s offer dated 12 January 2026. It offered 40,924,116 shares at Rs 3 each, at a ratio of 38 rights shares for every 100 held. Its stated book-closure date was 20 January, trading in the rights ran from 22 January to 6 February, and acceptance ran through 13 February. Those dates have passed; the company’s dated offer document contains the terms.
What a bonus issue means
A bonus issue is a different corporate action from a cash rights offer. Under the same SECP regulations, the board approves the bonus issue. Once announced, that decision cannot be varied, postponed, withdrawn or cancelled. It is not an invitation to pay an issue price for the bonus shares. The company’s announcement explains the issue and the entitlement details; read it rather than inferring terms from another company.
Neither label, by itself, tells you what a company’s shares are worth or whether an offer suits a particular holder. A bonus issue should not be read as creating company value or making a shareholder wealthier simply because the share count changes. A rights issue, meanwhile, has a cash price and terms that need to be read before deciding how to respond.
Where ex-price fits
Ex-price is a separate market-pricing mechanism, not the same question as what the company offers or what a shareholder chooses. Under Rule 10.6 of the PSX Regulations dated 23 September 2026, when books close to determine entitlement, PSX determines the ex-price as the opening price for the trading day falling one settlement day before book-closure starts. The detailed calculation methodology is on PSX’s website; this article does not reproduce a formula.
For a fuller explanation of the cutoff and timing, see book closure and the ex-date. This guide is about the structure of rights and bonus issues, not the ex-date process.
The desk’s dividend and book-closure calendar is a separate place to review published corporate-action dates; it does not replace the company’s offer document.
Before you respond
Read the company’s own offer or announcement for the applicable price, quantity, purpose, deadlines and response instructions. For a rights offer, consider the cash commitment in its stated terms; the position-size calculator is a separate tool for checking position sizing, not a rights-offer calculator or a recommendation. The PSX companies hub is a starting point for company-specific information.
Sources
- SECP — Companies (Further Issue of Shares) Regulations 2020, consolidated update of 13 January 2026 — requirements for listed-company rights and bonus issues.
- PSX — Regulations, 23 September 2026 — Rule 10.6 on determining ex-price where books close to determine entitlement.
- Crescent Star Insurance Ltd — rights offer dated 12 January 2026 — a dated example of offer terms, not a current offer.