IAS 33 – EPS

Hi Tutor, hope you’re doing well.
I found the following question in the ACCA study hub:
The most recent statement of profit or loss of Waylor reported a profit before tax of $1,258,000 and a tax expense of $224,000. Half way through the year the company had issued 40,000 bonus shares which brought the total number of shares in issue to 440,000.

In accordance with IAS 33 Earnings per Share, what is Waylor’s basic earnings per share?

$2.35
$2.47
$2.86
$2.99

Solution: The correct answer is A.
Earnings = Operating profit ? tax (i.e. $1,034,000)
The bonus shares issued during the year should be included in the number of shares. Therefore, ?EPS equals $1,034,000 over 440,000 equals $2.35

My query is: Why haven’t they apportioned the bonus issue of 40,000 shares by 6/12 since the question says that the bonus shares were issued halfway through the year?
**If we do apportion the bonus shares of 40,000 by 6/12, we will get the “weighted average no.of shares” as 420,000 shares ((40,000*6/12)+400,000 in issue).
**So we will get the basic EPS figure as $2.462 (1,034,000/420,000) which is close to the answer in the “option B) $2.47”. Kindly clarify my query ASAP. Thank you!