Zomato Allots Shares Worth INR 4.4 Cr Under ESOP Schemes

SUMMARY

Based on the stock’s last close of INR 202.05 per share on the BSE, the newly allotted equity shares are worth INR 4.4 Cr

Of the total grant, 2,17,802 options were allocated under ESOP 2021, and the remaining 158 were granted under ESOP 2014

Zomato laid off nearly 600 employees from its customer support team, on grounds of performance issues, tardiness and overall restructuring efforts

Foodtech major Zomato has allotted 2.17 Lakh equity shares to eligible employees under its existing employee stock option plans (ESOPs).

Based on the stock’s last close of INR 202.05 per share on the BSE, the newly allotted equity shares are worth INR 4.4 Cr.

In an exchange filing, Zomato said, “Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the company, on April 01, has approved a total grant of 2,17,960 stock options under Foodie Bay Employee Stock Option Plan 2014 (ESOP 2014) and Zomato Employee Stock Option Plan 2021 (ESOP 2021) to the eligible employees.”

Of the total grant, the largest portion of stock options has been allocated under ESOP 2021, accounting for 2,17,802 options, and the remaining 158 were granted under ESOP 2014.

As per the filing, each stock option is convertible into one fully paid up equity share having face value of INR 1 each.

Further, the company said in a statement that the equity shares allotted, pursuant to the exercise of the stock options, would not be subject to the lock-in system.

This comes hours after a report surfaced that Zomato laid off nearly 600 employees from its customer support team.

As per Outlook Business report, the employees were laid off due to performance issues, tardiness, and an overall restructuring effort at the foodtech major. Besides, Zomato has been increasingly leveraging AI to automate its customer support functions to trim costs.

The company notably made headlines for its in-house AI-native, no-code customer support platform Nugget, in February. The platform provides AI agents ranging from conversational AI chatbots to co-pilots, to address complex queries and streamlining support.

Previously, the listed foodtech player allotted 4.17 Cr stock options under its existing ESOP plans, in January, translating to a worth of about INR 903.82 Cr.

Zomato’s consolidated net profit slumped 57.2% to INR 59 Cr in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 from INR 138 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, operating revenue surged over 64% to INR 5,405 Cr in Q3 FY25, compared to INR 3,288 Cr in the same quarter last year.

Shares of the company were last up 2.7% at INR 207.50 apiece on the BSE today.