Book closure and the ex-dividend date on PSX
A company announces a dividend, bonus shares or a right issue, and with it the dates its share register closes: its book closure. Whether you get the entitlement depends on when your shares settle, not when you bought them.
Short answer
To get a dividend, bonus or right, your shares must be in your CDC account by the close of business on the day before book closure starts. Since PSX's regular market settles T+1, that means buying at least two trading days before book closure. Buy later and the entitlement goes to the seller.
What book closure is
When a listed company announces a dividend, bonus shares or a right issue, it also announces the dates its share register is closed. Those dates are the book closure. The company uses the register as it stands just before closure to decide who is entitled.
The notices put it plainly: transfers received by the close of business on the day before book closure are treated as in time. Some 2026 notices also name that day the Entitlement Day.
Working out the last day to buy
A share you buy is yours on the register only once the trade settles, and on PSX that takes one business day (T+1). Count back from the start of book closure:
- Find the first day of book closure in the company's notice.
- Go back one business day. That is the cut-off: your shares must have settled by its close.
- Go back one more trading day. That is the last day to buy.
| Book closure starts | Shares must settle by | Last day to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Wednesday | Tuesday |
| Friday | Thursday | Wednesday |
| Monday | Friday | Thursday |
| Tuesday | Monday | Friday |
Assumes no public holiday in between. A holiday moves each step back one more business day.
The ex-dividend date
The trading day after the last day to buy is the ex-date (for a dividend, the ex-dividend date). A share bought on the ex-date settles too late for the register, so it comes without the entitlement: it trades "ex" (ex-dividend, ex-bonus or ex-right). Under T+1, the ex-date is the trading day just before book closure starts. Under the old T+2 cycle it was two trading days before.
Because a buyer from the ex-date no longer gets the dividend or bonus, the share price usually drops on that day by about the value of what was paid out. The drop is the entitlement leaving the share, not news about the company.
Check the latest notice
- Dates can change. Companies sometimes issue a revised book closure notice. In November 2026, for example, one company moved its bonus book closure from a Tuesday to the Friday of the same week. The latest notice is the one that counts.
- Read the notice itself. Book closure notices are filed with PSX and published on its data portal at dps.psx.com.pk, under the company's announcements.
- Holidays matter. A public holiday between your trade and the cut-off adds a business day to settlement.
Quick answers
What does book closure mean in the share market?
The days a listed company closes its share register to work out who gets a dividend, bonus or right. You need your shares settled in your account before it starts.
Is the ex-dividend date the same as book closure?
No. Under T+1, the ex-dividend date is the trading day before book closure starts. Buy on or after it and the dividend stays with the seller.
Where can I find book closure dates for PSX companies?
In each company's notices on PSX's data portal, dps.psx.com.pk, under its announcements.
If I sell on the ex-date, do I still get the dividend?
Yes, as long as you bought by the last day to buy. A sale on the ex-date settles after the cut-off, so on the day that counts the shares are still yours.
Book closure starts Monday. When must I buy?
By the Thursday before, assuming no holiday. Your shares settle on Friday, the business day before book closure.
What does entitlement date mean?
The day by whose close your shares must be in your account to get the entitlement: the business day before book closure starts.