Deciphering Corporate Actions: What is Ex-Date, Record Date & Date Payable?

As a remisier for many years, I realised that investors and traders who are starting out tend to ask a similar set of questions. The topic on deciphering corporate actions has popped up multiple times, and I have decided to compile the information to educate the folks out there. You're welcome.

Where can I find companies' information?

Go to SGX website, and search for "Company Announcements" & "Corporate Action".

Things to note: When a company announces corporate actions, the news will appear first in "Company Announcements" in comparison to "Corporate Action". It will subsequently be under "Corporate Action" after a couple of days. Yes, it is slower, based from my past experiences. If you're seeking first-hand news with regards to a particular company, then "Company Announcements" is the way to go.

Company Announcements

This is my favorite page I will look at for any company news. It is simple and easy to use, and just explore it on your own. Enough spoon feeding.

Announcement Period: You can search up to 5 years of information.

Filter By: I prefer "Security Name" so that I can search specifically for companies listed on SGX.

Security Name: Just search for the company you want to look at.

Announcement Category: Announcements, Corporate Actions, Product Announcements & Listings, Trading Status and you even have a sub category for what you have selected thereafter.

The Major Peeve:  I have no idea why SGX has not streamlined the info and it irritates me, as you can find two similar company names at times, with one being active and the other being dormant for a while.

Corporate Action

I love this page as it gives me a brief and concise summary of the various corporate actions the company undertook for the past few years.

Company Name: Just select the company you are looking at.

Category: You can do a filter for bond interests, bonus shares, dividends, entitlements, offers, rights and others.

Do note that you can choose not do a filter, if you want to view all the corporate actions of a company as a whole.

Year: This is obvious. Select the year you're looking at. I seldom use this.

Today's Exercise Date: For those who do not know what is exercise date, you can view the details in my explanation below. And no, it does not refer to the date where you should be working out.

What do Ex-date, Record Date & Date paid/payable mean?

Last Cum Date: refers to the last day where you will be entitled to the corporate action. It is one day before the Ex-date.

Ex-date: refers to the date the corporate action is carried out.

For example, Capitaland Mall Trust has issued dividends of S$0.0278 per share.

If you buy Capitaland Mall Trust on 26th October 2017 itself, you are not entitled to the dividends.

Therefore, you will need to buy Capitaland Mall Trust on 25th October 2017 or any dates before that.

If you have the shares and you sell on 26th October 2017 itself, you will still be entitled to the dividends.

Do note that it is the modus operandi for the other types of corporate actions as well.

Record Date: It is the date set by the company to determine who is entitled to the corporate action in their "books". For investors, rely on Ex-date.

Date Paid/Payable: For dividends, it refers to the date you receive the dividends. ka-ching!

Share Crediting Date: For rights and bonus shares, it is the date where the additional shares are credited to you.

You cannot sell the additional shares before the share crediting date.

In summary, you should have learnt the following:

1. How to search for all company announcements.
2. Gain access to a summarized and concise view of a company's corporate actions.
3. Understand the difference between Ex-Date, Record Date and Date Paid/payable.

We will be covering in-depth on the different corporate actions: Dividends, Share Consolidation (Reverse Stock Split), Stock Split, Bonus, Rights in our next post.

FAQ

Will I be entitled to the corporate action if I buy on the Ex-Date?

No.

Will I be entitled to the corporate action if I have the shares and I sell it on the Ex-Date?

Yes.

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