The RBI on Wednesday barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd from accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer account, prepaid instruments, wallets, and FASTags, among others after February 29, 2024.
Sources close to the development told Business Standard the company was exploring different ways to save on its employee costs and had laid off a few employees on "performance" grounds. "We will see a similar development for the next few months. "The company is fine-tuning its hiring policies and implement rigourous measures to look into employee performance," a source said.
Investors are increasingly turning optimistic about shares of new-age companies. From broad-based 'sell' calls, analysts are giving thumbs up to Zomato, Paytm, and FSN e-Commerce Ventures-owned Nykaa as these companies have shifted focus to sustainable profits. The shares of Zomato hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 126 apiece on the BSE on November 7, having rallied 15.4 per cent in one week.
Paytm's pre-IPO investors, which include likes of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathway, SoftBank and Alibaba, do not seem to be in a hurry to exit India's leading digital payments brand as they continue to believe in its long-term prospect, analysts said. On Tuesday, 86 per cent of Paytm's shares became free to trade after the end of the lock-in period, allowing investors to sell shares that haven't yet been allowed onto the market. Market participants have been speculating on Paytm, post-expiry of lock-in for pre-IPO investors.
Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on Wednesday that the company's share market performance has been in line with that of global peers in the sector over the past six months due to macroeconomic factors. "Macro factors like quantitative easing, free money due to US monetary policy and other parameters led to a spook in the market in terms of pricing the IPO. "Paytm's shares have received a similar response to that of global peers in the last six months...But that is not a complete reasoning.
After new-age tech companies reported better-than-expected June quarter (Q1FY23) results, analysts said it will be a long road to recovery for their respective businesses and the stock prices. Moreover, brokerages differ on whether it is the right time to own these stocks. The common thread, however, that runs across most brokerages is Zomato, where they suggest buying the stock with the one-year target price ranging between Rs 60 - 115, translating into an upside of around 9 - 109 per cent from the current levels. The company's gross order value (GOV) of food delivery jumped 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 42 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q1, aided largely by growth in volume, and mild growth in average order value (AOV) at 1-2 per cent. The company also broke even on an adjusted Ebitda basis during the quarter.
Even if the Paytm fiasco does not mark the end of the bull run, at least some sanity will return to the wild IPO market, observes Debashis Basu.
The RBI on Friday gave 15 days more till March 15, 2024 to Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) to stop deposits, credit transactions or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, and FASTags, keeping in view the interest of customers, including merchants. As per a January 31 order of the central bank, PPBL was asked to stop further deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, and National Common Mobility Cards, after February 29.
According to its DRHP filed in 2010, the company's net worth was just Rs 140 crore. Its total income for the financial year 2009-10 stood at Rs 119 crore and it had a net profit of Rs 16 crore. In sharp contrast, at the end of March 2021, Paytm's networth was Rs 6,535 crore and total income stood at Rs 3,187 crore.
The One97 Communications stock saw a surge in interest as the company's operating performance update for August was considered positive by the Street. In addition, there was a news buzz as the company released a new hitech soundbox, which has longer battery life and processes all major cards. The performance indicates that the company, which is better known by its Paytm brandname, is still on course to achieve its guidance of going cashflow positive by the end of the 2023-24 financial year (FY24).
After dropping to a low of Rs 1,298 apiece, the stock finished at Rs 1,380, its lowest level since November 22, the second day of listing.
Glimpses of Vijay Shekhar Sharma's joy during the IPO listing ceremony on the BSE.
Encouraging results for PayTM (One97 Communications) for the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) have led to a surge in the company's stock price, gaining nearly 5 per cent during Monday's trade. PayTM reported Q4FY23 revenues at Rs 2,330 crore, up 51 per cent on year-on-year (YoY) basis (13.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter or QoQ), led by monthly transaction user (MTU) growth of 27 per cent and average revenue per user or ARPU growth of 19 per cent YoY. MTU is defined as users with at least one transaction/month.
The shareholders have approved raising of Rs 12,000 crore during the initial public offer and sale of secondary shares will take the total amount to Rs 16,600 crore. "Shareholders have approved all the proposals at the extraordinary general meeting. "The shareholders have approved the proposal to raise capital and the fresh issue of shares of up to Rs 12,000 crore during the IPO.
Ending Paytm's monopoly as the only wallet payment option on Uber, the ride-hailing service has decided to allow payments through Jio Money. Alnoor Peermohamed reports.
Digital payments firm Paytm has earmarked Rs 50 crore for rolling out a cashback program for consumers and merchants to celebrate six years of Digital India, the company said on Friday. Under the offer, Paytm has announced cashbacks for merchants and consumers in India, for every transaction made through the Paytm app. The program will be rolled out in 200 districts across the country with special drives in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The best way to achieve financial security isn't by cutting out every vada pav or limiting yourself to home-cooked meals; it's by making yourself indispensable at work, says Vatsal Ramaiya.
In 2024, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved 20 third-party Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications, a record since UPI's launch in 2016. This surge reflects growing interest from financial technology (fintech) companies, driven by the integration of credit products like UPI-linked credit cards and pre-approved credit lines.
'There is need for India-specific pricing.' 'Google, Microsoft and others also have different pricing.' 'It is important for OpenAI to think on these lines as the global pricing may not work in the Indian context.'
Paytm's Rs 18,300 crore IPO was oversubscribed 1.89 times on the last day of India's biggest share sale on Wednesday, making it one of the country's most valued companies. The initial public offering of Paytm's parent company One97 Communications Ltd received bids for 9.14 crore equity shares against the offer size of 4.83 crore shares, according to information available from stock exchanges. While the portion set aside for retail investors was oversubscribed early, institutional buyers including FIIs flooded the share sale with offers on Wednesday, seeking 2.79 times the number of shares reserved for them.
Sebi also plans to examine if any comments made by company officials or the bankers could have misled investors.
While analysts assessed One97 Communications (Paytm) Q1FY24 results as in-line with guidance, the market was disappointed and the stock fell by around 5 per cent. Paytm reported a net loss of Rs 360 crore, but revenue grew 39 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,340 crore. It was supported by strong growth in gross merchandising value (GMV), higher disbursements and the addition of subscription devices.
The RBI on Friday asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop opening new accounts amid "material supervisory concerns" observed in the bank. "Reserve Bank of India has today, in exercise of its powers, inter alia, under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd to stop, with immediate effect, onboarding of new customers," the central bank said in a statement. The bank has also been directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive system audit of its IT system.
Digital payments and financial company Paytm is looking to hive off its payment aggregator business into a new subsidiary Paytm Payments Services Limited, according to a notice sent to shareholders for approval. The company is seeking approval of the same from its shareholders through an extraordinary general meeting on September 23. "To consider and approve transfer of Payment Aggregator business to Paytm Payments Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, to comply with Reserve Bank of India guidelines, being considered as sale of undertaking," the EGM notice issued on August 31 said.
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
After gaining 300 million mobile wallet users in India, the firm has now expanded operations to Japan via PayPay Corporation, a joint venture established by SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan Corporation.
Japanese investor Softbank will pull out its representative from the boards of Indian listed entities Paytm and Policy Bazaar as part of its global policy, a source said on Monday. There will be no change in investment made by Softbank in these companies, the source said. Softbank managing partner Munish Verma is currently a board member in both Paytm and Poilcy Bazaar who will step down from the position within a couple of days.
Shares of One97 Communications Ltd, Paytm's parent company, on Thursday made a tepid market debut, listing with a discount of over 9 per cent from the issue price of Rs 2,150.
Online food delivery firm Zomato Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 176 crore in the second quarter ended on September 30, 2024. The board of the company, which had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 36 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, also approved the raising of Rs 8,500 crore through qualified institutional placement of equity shares, Zomato Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Zomato's consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,799 crore.
Indian mobile commerce player Paytm on Tuesday launched Paytm Cash - a semi-closed wallet for online shopping.
'If you are not prudent, you may exceed your budget, and if it happens too often, you may end up in debt.'
Allegations are flying thick and fast, from harassment, pressure on employees to sell their stocks in the firm, to not one but two extortion calls.
All Chinese nationals on the board of digital payments firm Paytm have been replaced by US and Indian citizens, while there is no change in existing shareholding, according to a regulatory filing of the company. Alipay representative Jing Xiandong, Ant Financial's Guoming Cheng, and Alibaba representatives Michael Yuen Jen Yao (US citizen) and Ting Hong Kenny Ho have ceased to be directors of the company, as per the regulatory document. According to a source, Paytm now has no Chinese national on its board.
Since Sanjay Malhotra took office as governor in December, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has adopted a more accommodative stance, which bodes well for banking and the economy as they navigate a growth slowdown, according to analysts.
Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma will receive his stock grants only after the company's market capitalisation (m-cap) stabilises at its initial public offering (IPO) level, the financial technology (fintech) major said on Wednesday. Paytm's stock price has been in free fall since its IPO at Rs 2,150 apiece, with m-cap at around Rs 1.4 trillion - plunging 76 per cent to a lifetime low of Rs 520 on March 23, when m-cap dropped below Rs 34,000 crore. Since then, the company's share price on the BSE has recovered some value and closed at Rs 637 on Wednesday.
Digital financial services firm One97 Communications' Managing Director Vijay Shekhar Sharma has purchased 1.7 lakh shares of the company worth Rs 11 crore, according to a regulatory filing.
Paytm had received the approval for brokerage services from market regulator Sebi in January this year.
The Alibaba-backed company had introduced the fee on March 8 after it found multiple users using its platform to get free credit by using credit cards to top up their mobile wallets and then transferring the money back to their bank accounts at zero transaction cost.
Zomato is at 5, Swiggy at 9, Blinkit at 10.