Retail Shareholding in Paytm Increases By 221% As Foreign Portfolio Investment Halves.

• ByStartupStory     |    April 22, 2022

Paytm, the fintech behemoth has seen a substantial shift in its shareholding patterns, with a large number of international portfolio investors departing. Institutional investors’ interest in the company has decreased from a total of 10.42 percent for the quarter ending December 2021 to 5.49 percent today, according to the most recent shareholding pattern for the quarter ending March 2022. 

 The number of stockholders has also decreased dramatically, from 147 institutional investors last quarter to 61 this quarter. While an Alternate Investment Fund has become a modest shareholder, Paytm has experienced a significant drop in foreign portfolio investors (FPIs); the number of FPIs currently stands at 54, down from 141 in the previous quarter.

Paytm‘s largest institutional investor, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has increased its shareholding from 1.57 percent in December 2021 to 1.71 percent in March 2022. Despite an apparent flight of FPIs from listed fintech, retail investors were upbeat in the most recent quarter.

According to the papers, Paytm’s retail shareholding for individual share capital of up to INR 2 lakhs increased by 220.9 percent from 3.49 percent in December 2021 to 7.72 percent in March 2022. The retail shareholders’ optimism comes despite the fact that Paytm’s stock has dropped by as much as 75% from its offer price. The company’s stock is now selling at roughly INR 650 per share.

In the first two months of FY 2021-2022, Paytm’s gross merchandise value (GMV) increased by 105 percent year on year to INR 1,65,333 Cr. Furthermore, during the first two months of the quarter, its lending business climbed to 4.1 million loan disbursals (a 449 percent year-over-year increase), with about 2.2 million loans disbursed in February 2022 alone. Paytm claimed in a regulatory filing today that this adds up to a total loan value of INR 2,095 Cr (a 366 percent year-over-year increase).

It’s worth noting that the fintech behemoth went public in November 2021 with an initial public offering (IPO) priced at INR 2,150 per share. In comparison to its IPO valuation of INR 1.5 lakh crores at the time, the stock is today valued at around INR 50,000 crores. Since its IPO, Paytm has lost about two-thirds of its initial worth, and its market capitalization has decreased from roughly three times its initial value.

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