According to ANI, the Chinese company Alibaba Group has completed its exit from the Indian digital payments company Paytm.
Alibaba held a 3.4% ownership in Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications, with 2.1 crore shares. These shares have recently changed hands. As of December 2022, Alibaba held a 6.26% stake in the fintech firm, but in January, they sold approximately 3% of it.
A PTI report previously stated that a significant transaction had taken place in Paytm’s stock in January, with the sale of 2,59,930 shares at a value of Rs 13.93 crore. The source of the report claimed that the Chinese group Alibaba was responsible for the deal, having sold up to 3.1% of their total equity in the company, which was around 6%.
According to the source in the PTI report, Alibaba appeared to be leaving the Indian market, as they had sold shares in other investments. This exit was confirmed to be complete on Friday.
Before this exit from Paytm, Alibaba had also divested a 3% stake in the food aggregator Zomato in November.
In the quarter ending December, Paytm reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 392 crore. This was an improvement from the net loss of Rs 778.4 crore recorded in the same quarter the previous year.
During the quarter, the company’s revenue from operations increased by approximately 42% to reach Rs 2,062.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,456.1 crore in the same quarter the previous year. Paytm’s CEO and founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, announced that the company had achieved its goal for operational profit, excluding stock options costs, during the reported quarter.
“On April 6th, 2022, I communicated to you about our goal of reaching EBITDA before ESOP cost breakeven by the September 2023 quarter,” stated Sharma. “I am pleased to announce that our company has surpassed this objective and achieved profitability in the EBITDA before ESOP cost in the December 2022 quarter, three quarters ahead of schedule.”
