Ant Group Senior VP Douglas Feagin Resigns From Zomato Board

A week after stepping down from the board at listed fintech giant Paytm, Alibaba-backed Ant Group senior vice president Douglas Feagin has resigned from the board of listed foodtech giant Zomato, the foodtech’s filings with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) showed.

Feagin was a non-executive, non-independent director at Zomato, a post he held at Paytm as well till February 3. Feagin’s resignation was effective immediately on Thursday (February 9), shortly after Zomato filed its financials for Q3FY23.

“Zomato’s accomplishments in the pursuit of developing the food delivery business in India and creating happier everyday lives for people have been impressive. In recognition of the company’s growth as a publicly listed company and the maturity of the business, at the request of the nominating shareholder, I hereby resign from my position as a director on the Board of Directors of Zomato,” said Feagin in his resignation letter.

“I remain confident in Zomato’s management team and wish for their continued success,” added the former director.

Ant Group, via its subsidiary Antfin Singapore Holding Pte Ltd, holds 55.02 Lakh shares of Zomato, amounting to a 6.43% stake in the listed foodtech giant. Alibaba Group, in total, holds a 9.89% stake in the foodtech giant, with the rest 29.61 Lakh shares coming via its subsidiary Alipay Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd.

Shares of Zomato opened for trading at INR 52.70 apiece on Friday (February 10), down 2.76% from Thursday’s close of INR 54.20 apiece.

On the day when Feagin handed in his resignation, Zomato declared its financial results for the third quarter of FY23. The foodtech’s consolidated losses widened to INR 346.6 Cr in Q3FY23, up 38% from INR 250.8 Cr in Q2FY23.

Zomato’s operating revenue stood at INR 1,948.2 Cr during the period, up from INR 1,661.3 Cr in the previous quarter. The slowdown and falling consumer demand hit Zomato’s core business in Q3FY23. 

The food delivery vertical generated an adjusted revenue of INR 1,565 Cr in Q3FY23, down 1% from INR 1,581 Cr in Q2FY23. Zomato also saw its average monthly transacting users fall quarter-on-quarter to 17.4 Mn in the quarter under review from 17.5 Mn in Q2FY23.