Ant Group’s Senior Vice President Douglas Feagin Resigns From The Board Of Paytm

Alibaba-backed Ant Group’s senior vice president Douglas Feagin has stepped down from his position as a non-executive, non-independent director of Paytm, the fintech giant said in an exchange filing on Friday (February 3).

“Paytm’s journey to achieving profitable financial services of scale in India has been inspiring.  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 Paytm,” Feagin said in his resignation letter.

“I remain confident in Paytm’s management team and wish for their continued success,” he added.

As per the filing, February 2 was his last day in the position. 

Shares of Paytm were trading 2.9% lower at INR 530.25 on the BSE at 2 PM IST despite a northbound journey in most other new-age tech stocks and positive sentiment in the overall stock market. The fintech company is expected to release its financial performance for the December quarter of 2022 later in the day.

As of December 2022, Chinese behemoth Alibaba held 20.2 Cr shares in Paytm. While Alibaba’s Antfin Netherlands Holding held 16.1 Cr shares, or 24.88% stake, Alibaba.Com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited held over 4 Cr shares, or 6.26% stake.

However, it is pertinent to note that Alibaba offloaded some shares in Paytm recently after its lock-in expiry in November 2022. Alibaba sold nearly 2 Cr shares of Paytm through a bulk deal in January, giving up 2.96% stake.

As per Goldman Sachs’ calculations, Antfin Netherlands Holding acquired Paytm shares between 2015 and 2019 at an average cost of around INR 300 per share.

In early 2022, early investors Alibaba and Ant Group exited Paytm Mall. 

In December 2022, Paytm disbursed 3.7 Mn loans worth INR 3,666 Cr, recording its best-ever month in terms of both metrics. Paytm’s loan disbursals rose 2.37X year-on-year to 10.5 Mn in Q3 FY23.

While worries around the company achieving its breakeven goals keep its share prices under pressure, Goldman Sachs in a recent research report said that it expects Paytm to achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability in the March 2023 quarter, two quarters ahead of the startup’s estimate of September 2023.

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