Paytm share price tumbles nearly 10% as SoftBank seeks to offload stake
Shares of One 97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) fell around 10% to ₹541 on the BSE early on Thursday as a unit of Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp offered to reduce its stake in the company. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, about 29.5 million shares, equivalent to 4.5% of the company’s share capital, were traded on a single volume on the NSE.
The trade dragged Paytm’s shares to their biggest decline since July 29. Reports on Wednesday suggested that Japan’s SoftBank will sell a third stake in Paytm payment app owner One97 Communications Ltd in a $200 million block deal.
SoftBank, which holds a 12.9% stake in Paytm, plans to sell 29 million shares or 4.5% of the fintech firm on Thursday, suggested a report by Mint on Wednesday. Institutional investors are offered shares at a price of ₹555-601.45. If the sale goes through, SoftBank will receive at least ₹1,628.9 crore or $200 million, the report added.
The sale follows the end of a one-year mandatory lock-in for pre-IPO investors in Paytm. Stocks often fall after lock-ups expire, as investor selling puts downward pressure on stocks.
Paytm shares made their bourse debut in November last year and the scrip has fallen nearly 65% since listing amid the global tech recession that started last year. Other new-age tech stocks including Zomato, Nykaa, PB Fintech — which went public last year — have had a rough month so far in the stock market and have already fallen below their respective issue prices.
Paytm’s net loss for the July-September period widened to ₹571 crore compared to ₹473 crore a year ago, however, it was ₹650 crore in the year-ago quarter of June 2022. Meanwhile, its consolidated revenue from operations grew by around 76%. % was at ₹1,914 crore in the reported quarter, up from ₹1,086 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, boosted by growth in lending business, payment services for merchants and increase in cloud revenue.
