Zomato Plunges 14 Per Cent Intraday; Hits All-time Low As Share Lock-In Period Comes To End

Zomato made a robust markets debut on July 23, 2021. However, its shares have lost more than 60 per cent of their value since then on concerns about valuations and as global growth stocks cratered

now has a market value of Rs 36,600 crore ($4.58 billion), compared with Rs 1.29 lakh crore at its all-time high in November.

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Online Indian food aggregator Zomato declined over 14 per cent to a record low on Monday as its one-year share lock-in period for promoters, employees, and other investors expired following the 2021 listing, the Reuters reported.

The food delivery firm made a robust markets debut on July 23, 2021. However, its shares have lost more than 60 per cent of their value since then on concerns about valuations and as global growth stocks cratered.

At the end of Monday's trade, Zomato recouped some losses. The company was down 11.37 per cent to Rs 47.55 a peice. 

"Investors are concerned about the sell-off through employees and promoters," said Prashanth Tapse, vice president of research at Mehta Equities.

According to the report, investors are also not comfortable with the acquisition of Blinkit, he said, adding that the fundamentals of the company were still good.

Zomato shares to date have lost nearly 30 per cent since the company announced its deal to buy local grocery delivery start-up Blinkit in June.

On Monday, the stock posted its biggest intraday percentage drop since January 24 in heavy-volume trade of 2.7 times the 30-day average.

The company now has a market value of Rs 36,600 crore ($4.58 billion), compared with Rs 1.29 lakh crore at its all-time high in November.

According to analysts, Zomato needs to pump more money into Blinkit as the quick-commerce sector grows at a rapid clip, with rivals Swiggy, Reliance Industries-backed Dunzo, Tata-backed BigBasket and Zepto making big investments.

Zomato is scheduled to report its first-quarter results on August 1. The company had reported a 75 per cent jump in fourth-quarter revenue in May, while gross order value, or the total value of all food delivery orders on its online platform, surged 77 per cent year-on-year to a record high.