Paytm Zooms Over 15% After Vijay Shekhar Sharma Reiterates Focus On Consumer Payments

Continuing on the path to recovery, shares of fintech major Paytm surged 15.65% to end Tuesday’s (October 8) trading session at INR 753.60. With this, the startup’s market capitalisation also jumped to $5.71 Bn. 

The upswing came a day after the startup’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma reiterated Paytm’s focus on doubling down on its core business of consumer payments. 

Speaking at a CII event in Kolkata on Monday, Sharma said that the company will look to reinvest in the consumer payments business area. “Payments remain our primary business, and the merchant side continues to be strong. However, we lost a significant consumer base due to regulatory constraints. Moving forward, we aim to reinvest in the consumer payments business area,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The comments came on the heels of Paytm selling its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato for INR 2,048 Cr in an all-cash deal.

On Monday, Paytm also announced allotting 93,284 equity shares to its employees under Employee Stock Option Scheme 2019 and Employee Stock Option Scheme 2008. 

It is pertinent to note that the shares of Paytm have been on an upswing for the past four weeks. Last week, the stock gained 3.39% to end the week at INR 695.20. 

Earlier this month, Paytm announced its plans to double down on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this, it appointed its payments CTO Manmeet Dhody as ‘AI Fellow’ to drive its projects related to AI innovation in business. It also elevated senior VP of Technology Deependra Singh Rathore as its new payments CTO. 

Despite the recent bull run, it is pertinent to note that the company’s shares are currently trading over 60% lower than its listing price of INR 1,950. Paytm went public in November 2021. 

Recently, Sharma also expressed regret on his choice of investment bankers for the company’s initial public offering (IPO). “I have been an entrepreneur long enough now. I have a regret of not choosing the correct bankers for the IPO,” Sharma said last month. 

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