Despite a free fall in Paytm’s (One97 Communications) stock since its listing, the retail shareholding in the company has more than doubled – from 3.49% in the previous quarter to 7.72% in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 – the updated shareholding pattern on the BSE showed on Thursday. Interestingly, anchor investor Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has increased its stake from 1.5% to 1.71% in the last quarter.
Several mutual funds have added shares of Paytm in the last month. According to a monthly fund report by IDBI Capital, SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, IDBI Mutual, IDFC Mutual Fund, DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund and Edelweiss Mutual Fund are among the top fund houses that bought shares of Paytm in March.
Earlier this month, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma in a letter to shareholders said the company will achieve the operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) break-even in the next six quarters. However, several analysts had flagged concerns over the company’s path to profitability and lack of focus area amid a vast business model. Foreign brokerage Macquarie in its latest report on Paytm slashed the stock’s target price further to Rs 450 on the back of several factors, including the recent ban from the Reserve Bank of India to on-board new users on the payments bank business.
The stock currently trades 70.18% lower from its public offer price of Rs 2,150. The stock hit its record low of Rs 520 in March, which was a 75% decline against its issue price. On Thursday, shares of Paytm ended higher by 0.2% at Rs 641.25 on the BSE.
