Digital payments and financial services firm Paytm’s share slumped more than 8 per cent on Friday after a large block deal took place, reported CNBC-TV18. The report said that according to market sources, 2.1 crore shares, which makes 3.4 per cent equity in Paytm, changed hands through a block deal on Friday morning. However, the report could not verify the buyer and seller.
Another report by news agency ANI said that Chinese multinational Alibaba has sold its entire stake in Paytm in today's block deal. The report said with this transaction, Alibaba no longer has any stake in Paytm. In January, the business sold about 3.1 per cent of the 6.261 per cent stock in Paytm.
Since Alibaba had already sold its shares in Zomato and BigBasket, this most recent agreement almost marks the end of its presence in India. As the Chinese ownership of the domestic Paytm has ended, the news will boost the market, the report said.
At 2.21 PM, shares of the company were trading 7.73 per cent lower at Rs 657.50 on the BSE on Friday.
The parent company of Paytm released its quarterly results earlier this week. Compared with the December quarter to the same time last year, the firm's revenue increased by 41 per cent to Rs 2,062 crore, while net loss shrank to Rs 392 crore. The loss for the digital payments and financial services company was Rs 572 crore in the September quarter compared to Rs 778 crore in the same period last year.
In a letter to shareholders, Paytm Founder and Chief Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the company had achieved operating profitability in Q3, which is three quarters ahead of the guidance which was for the September quarter.
The price of Paytm shares has skyrocketed in recent days as a result of the company's announcement that it has reached operating profitability. Paytm has said that its business update for January 2023 during which its merchant payment volumes (GMV) grew by 44 per cent to Rs 1.2 lakh crore year-on-year (YoY). The average monthly transacting users (MTU) for January 2023 registered a 29 per cent increase to 89 million YoY.