Paytm informed stock exchanges on February 13 that it has repurchased 15.57 million equity shares, representing 2.4 per cent of the total outstanding shares, at a weighted average price of Rs 545.93 per share.
By India Today Business DeskPaytm, a leading digital payments and financial services company, completed its Rs 850-crore share buyback earlier this month. The company informed the exchanges on February 13 that it has repurchased 15.57 million equity shares, representing 2.4 per cent of the total outstanding shares, at a weighted average price of Rs 545.93 per share.
Consequently, the percentage stake of continuing shareholders will rise on a proportionate basis, though the absolute number of shares held by them remains the same.
As per Sebi’s (LODR) regulations, a listed company has to submit an updated shareholding pattern with stock exchanges within ten days of any capital restructuring of the company that results in a change of over 2 per cent of the total paid-up share capital.
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Accordingly, the company has disclosed its updated shareholding pattern.
Domestic institutional shareholding has increased by 1.11 per cent on account of the increase in shareholding of Mutual Funds and AIFs. Mutual funds have increased their position since December 2022, on the back of strong Q3 results (from 1.73 per cent to 2.68 per cent).
Foreign institutional shareholding has reduced from 72.8 per cent to 71.9 per cent. While FDI shareholding saw a reduction, FPI Cat 1 shareholding increased from 6.7 per cent to 10.6 per cent (3.9 per cent increase).
According to the latest update, Alibaba has exited the fintech giant. The Chinese e-commerce company held a 6.26% stake in Paytm, which it sold in two tranches in January and February this year.
Following the buyback, Ant’s holding in Paytm has moved slightly from 24.86 per cent as of December 31 to 25.47 per cent now, though Ant continues to hold 161.4 million shares in Paytm, the same number of shares as it held before the buyback.
SEBI regulations provide a period of 90 days from the date of closure of the buyback to restore the stake below 25 per cent.
Paytm continues to be on a strong growth path. In its recently announced Q3FY23 results, Paytm achieved its milestone of operating profitability, much ahead of its September 2023 guidance.
The company’s EBITDA before ESOP cost stood at Rs 31 crore, with EBITDA before ESOP margin at 2 per cent of revenues as compared to 27 per cent a year ago. The fintech giant’s revenue from operations increased 42 per cent YoY to Rs 2,062 crore, driven by growth in its core payments business and sustained growth momentum in credit business and commerce business.
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Kraig Prohaska
Wilmer Bode
Jakob Auer