SoftBank’s SVF India Holdings has reduced its ownership of Paytm to 5.01% by selling an additional 2% of the firm through open market transactions.
The parent company of the digital payment app Paytm, One 97 Communications, was sold by SoftBank company SVF India Holdings. Over the past few quarters, Softbank has been reducing its investment in the business.
SVF India Holdings sold 12,706,807 equity shares in open market transactions between December 19, 2023, and January 20, 2024, as part of its most recent divestment. SVF India Holdings now owns 5.01% of the firm as a result of this purchase.
As of the end of Q3 FY24, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) collectively held a 63.7% stake in Paytm, marking an increase from 60.09% in Q2 FY24. Concurrently, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also raised their stake during the third quarter of the current fiscal year, bringing their stake to 6.1%, up from 4.1% in the previous quarter (Q2FY24).
Conversely, retail investors decreased their ownership of the company, going from 35% in Q2 FY24 to 30.2% in Q3 FY24. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder and CEO of Paytm, owns a 19% share in the business, of which 9.89% is held through Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V.
Berkshire Hathaway, also known as BH International, which was founded by Warren Buffett, sold all 2.46% of the company earlier in November 2023, recording a ₹507 crore loss on its original investment that was made five years prior. The stock has dropped by 65% from its IPO price of ₹2,150 per share to its current market price of ₹749 per share.
Q3FY24 Scorecard
Financially speaking, the company announced strong results for the third quarter of FY24, ending in December. Its consolidated losses decreased to ₹222 crore from ₹392 crore during the same time the previous year.
In Q3, it reported sales of ₹2,850 crore, up 38% from ₹2,062 crore in the same quarter last year. With ₹1,730 crore in revenue, the payment business made a substantial contribution. This growth of 45% year over year was ascribed to higher gross merchandise value (GMV) and higher subscription revenue.
Paytm achieved a noteworthy milestone in Q3 FY24 when it crossed the 100 million active customer mark for the first time. The company is also actively incorporating artificial intelligence into its everyday operations to improve overall productivity.
Global stockbroker CLSA upgraded Paytm’s stock from “outperform” to “buy” and increased the target price to ₹960 from ₹925 in reaction to the company’s Q3 results.
