Fino Payments Bank Share Price Surges 38% In Two Sessions

Listed fintech unicorn Fino Payments Bank saw a belated surge in its share price this week as the share price surged by over 38% across two trading sessions.

At 2:37 PM on Thursday (November 24), Fino’s share price reached INR 267.35 apiece, 15.31% higher than the previous close of INR 231.60 on Wednesday (November 23).

However, Wednesday’s close was over 20% higher than Tuesday’s at INR 192.60 apiece. Fino Payment Bank’s share price topped out the upper circuit on Wednesday because of rapid growth, an achievement that has been rarely seen from new-age tech startup stocks over the past few years.

Further, the new-age tech startup’s stocks saw a jump of 7.7X in trading volume on Wednesday. The sudden jump in trading volume prompted the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to seek clarification from Fino Payments Bank.

In a disclosure made to the NSE, Fino said, “We wish to inform that there is no undisclosed information and/or announcement (including impending announcement) which in our opinion may have a bearing on the Price/Volume behaviour of the Bank’s Scrip. The Bank has made necessary disclosures pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI Regulations, 2015 within stipulated time frame and all such disclosures are in public domain.”

It is prudent to mention that Capri Global Holdings bought 1.32 Mn shares of Fino Payments Bank via an open markets deal on Wednesday for INR 228.77 apiece, per block deal data on the NSE. The purchase represents 1.59% of the total equity of Fino Payments Bank.

The payments bank saw a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 13.8 Cr in Q2FY23, up 75% year-on-year (YoY). Fino’s revenue grew 25% YoY to INR 303.33 Cr from INR 242.15 Cr during the corresponding quarter last year. 

On the other hand, its operating costs during Q2FY23 surged more than 20% to INR 277.73 Cr, up from INR 230.83 Cr in Q2 FY22.

Fino Payments Bank listed on the stock market a year ago to a subpar market debut. Even after the recent rally in stock prices, the startup’s stock remains 54% lower than the issue price of INR 577.

The payments bank is looking to obtain a small finance bank (SFB) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), per the MD and CEO Rishi Gupta.

“Right now we are internalising it. And once we close that communication and we believe that it is the right path or approach, then we will write to RBI for approval,” Gupta told PTI.