Zomato Grants ESOPs Worth INR 53 Cr Ahead Of Q2 Results

Foodtech major Zomato today (October 22) granted nearly 20 Lakh equity shares to eligible employees under various employee stock option plans (ESOPs) ahead of its earnings disclosure for the quarter ended September 2024 (Q2 FY25).

In an exchange filing, the Deepinder Goyal-led company said its board has approved the allotment of 19.66 Lakh equity shares with a face value of INR 1 each as fully paid-up upon exercise of 13.17 Lakh vested options to identified employees of the company and its subsidiaries.

The company said it has allocated 6.49 Lakh equity shares under Zomato ESOP Plan 2018, 3.12 Lakh equity shares under ESOP Plan 2021 and another 10.04 Lakh shares under ESOP Plan 2022.

With the fresh allotment of equity shares, the issued, subscribed and paid-up equity share capital of Zomato has increased to INR 883.6 Cr from INR 883.4 Cr earlier.

Shares of Zomato opened at INR 267.65 apiece on the BSE today. As per the stock’s last opening price, the newly-allotted shares are cumulatively worth INR 52.6 Cr.

Zomato is scheduled to declare its Q2 FY25 earnings later today. The foodtech major saw its consolidated net profit zoom multifold to INR 253 Cr in the June quarter from INR 2 Cr in the year-ago period.

Its operating revenue jumped 74% to INR 4,206 Cr during the June quarter from INR 2,416 Cr in Q1 FY24, as its quick commerce arm Blinkit delivered another quarter of strong growth. 

As per industry reports, Zomato’s board is likely to review and approve the company’s proposal to raise INR 8,500 Cr at its meeting today in what would be the first fundraise by the company since it went public in 2021.

In an exchange filing dated October 17, the company said it would seek approval from its board to raise funds by issuing equity shares via qualified institutions placement.

The fundraising plan comes at a time when Zomato is facing fierce competition in the quick commerce space from incumbents Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and Tata-owned BigBasket as well as new entrants such as Reliance-owned JioMart and Flipkart Minutes.

The fresh capital would likely help Zomato scale up its ‘going-out’ vertical as well. Earlier this year, the foodtech giant acquired Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business for INR 2,048 Cr. The Deepinder Goyal-led company has been seeing strong demand for the tickets being sold exclusively on its platform for various events.

Zomato also plans to launch a new app ‘District’ for its going-out business. As part of its efforts to scale up the events vertical, Zomato recently hired BookMyShow’s former live events and IP head Kunal Khambhati.

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