Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank has sold another 2% stake in Paytm’s parent entity One97 Communications for INR 950 Cr ($114 Mn).
SoftBank, One97 Communications’ biggest listed investment in India, has pared this stake over the past month via open market operations, to bring down its shareholding in the company to around 5%.
“SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited has disposed of an aggregate of 12,706,807 equity shares of One97 Communications Ltd in a series of disposals undertaken between December 19, 2023 and January 20, 2024, with the disposal on January 20, 2024 breaching the 2% threshold specified in Regulations 29(2) of the Sebi Takeover regulations,” Moneycontrol reported, citing the company’s statement.
The investor, which held close to 7% stake in the fintech major last year, offloaded 0.55% in December followed by 1.4% in January, as Paytm share surge 20% since last one month.
SoftBank has been paring stake in Paytm for the last one year.
In July last year, SoftBank sold another 2% stake in One97 Communications worth about $300 Mn. After the completion of the sale, SoftBank held about about 9.15% stake in the fintech giant.
Prior to that, the Japanese tech conglomerate offloaded over a 2% stake in One97 Communications.
After the completion of the sale in May, SoftBank held about 11.17% stake in the fintech major or around 7.1 Cr share.
Paytm continued to trim its loss. In Q3 FY24, the fintech major slashed its net loss by 43% to INR 222 Cr from INR 392 Cr during the corresponding period last fiscal.
Sequentially, net loss declined 24% from INR 292 Cr in Q2 FY24.
Paytm’s operating revenue rose to INR 2,850 Cr in the quarter ending December 2023, up 38% from INR 2,062 Cr in Q3 FY23. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, it jumped 13%.
The company attributed this jump to rise in gross merchandise volume (GMV), higher device addition and the growth of its financial services business during the quarter. Festive season also ‘partly’ boosted the company’s revenues in Q3 FY24.
The fintech major’s total expenses surged 27.5% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 3,216.3 Cr in Q3 FY24.
Last week, Paytm’s chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an earnings call that the company will continue adding tech capabilities to its businesses to build a leaner workforce.
“Instead of expanding more business functions, we are trying to add capabilities of machines and systems on our platform. So the systems and capabilities will continue to grow which will necessarily create not so much of demand in a linear way of the number of people that we need,” Sharma said.
Amid its decision to scale down small-ticket loans, last month, Paytm sacked hundreds of employees citing the increasing usage of AI-led automation. Sources told Inc42 that the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company has been adopting AI wherever possible to drive up efficiency, which resulted in layoffs.
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