FPIs, Domestic Institutional Investors Shore Up Stakes In Paytm In Q4 FY24

Fintech giant Paytm on Tuesday (April 9) said that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) ramped up their shareholding in the company in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

In a regulatory filing with the BSE, Paytm said that FPI inflow into the startup increased by 2.49% sequentially to 131 Mn shares during the quarter under review. Foreign investors lapped up an additional 15 Mn shares of the company in Q4 FY24. 

With this, the FPI shareholding in the company stood at 20.19% at the end of March 2024. The fintech startup made the data public in its Q4FY24 shareholding pattern filed with the stock exchanges. 

Paytm said that the shareholding of domestic institutional investors in the company witnessed a big uptick in the quarter under review led by Mirae and Nippon India mutual funds.

“Mutual Funds have increased their stake by 1.17% from 4.99% in Q3 FY24 to 6.15% in Q4FY24, led by investment from Mirae Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund. As a result, domestic institutional investors witnessed an increase in stake by 0.79% (QoQ) from 6.06% to 6.86% (in Q4 FY24),” Paytm said.

Meanwhile, the participation of retail investors also went up. At the end of Q4 FY24, retail investor shareholding in the company increased by 0.79% QoQ to  6.86%. Alongside, Non Resident Indians (NRIs) also ramped up their stake in the fintech startup to 0.85% in March 2024 as against 0.67% in December 2023.

A major outlier appeared to be the FDI shareholding, which declined to 60% in Q4 FY24 from 66% in the previous quarter. The company attributed the decline to SoftBank reducing its stake by 5.06% between January and March 2024. 

“The FDI shareholding is at 60% as compared to 66% in the last quarter. The shareholding by SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited (SoftBank) has decreased by 5% from 6.46% to 1.40% in Q4FY24,” the fintech giant added. 

The development came on the same day as the fintech startup announced the departure of Surinder Chawla as the CEO and MD of Paytm Payments Bank. As per the company, Chawla put down his papers on April 8 and will be relieved from his duties by June 26.

The news of FPIs shoring up their stake in the company comes as Paytm continues to grapple with the fallout of the RBI barring Paytm Payments Bank from accepting deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts. The directives came into effect last month on March 15. 

Meanwhile, the company is yet to release its financial statements for the quarter ended March 2024, when the RBI’s diktats came into effect. In Q3 FY24, Paytm saw its revenue from operations jump 38% YoY to INR 2,850 Cr even as net loss declined 43% YoY to INR 222 Cr.

Paytm shares closed the day 1.95% lower at INR 404.30 on the BSE on Tuesday (April 9).