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Paytm Shares Close 35% Below IPO Price On Day 2

One97 Communications shares declined sharply on their second day of trading.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>An advertising balloon for PayTM online payment advertisment is displayed at a  general store in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)</p></div>
An advertising balloon for PayTM online payment advertisment is displayed at a general store in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Shares of One97 Communications Ltd., the operator of digital payments platform Paytm, slumped as much as 18.5% on its second trading day after marking one of the worst-ever debuts by a major technology company on Thursday. The initial public offer was India's biggest so far.

On Monday, the stock fell to a low of Rs 1,271, that's 40% below its issue price of Rs 2,150 per share, but recouped some losses by end of trade to close at Rs 1,359.

Over the weekend, the company provided a business update for the quarter ended September and the month of October.

The company saw its gross merchandise value double in the July-September quarter, with the number and value of loans channeled through its system also rising sharply.

According to the update:

  • GMV was at Rs 1.95 lakh crore in the quarter, up 107% year-on-year.

  • GMV was at Rs 83,200 crore in October, up 131% year-on-year.

  • Monthly transacting users—with at least one successful transaction in a month—were at 6.3 crore in October, up 35% year-on-year.

  • Monthly GMV/MTU, which according to Paytm reflects customer and merchant engagement, was up 55% in the second quarter. It rose 71% in October.

  • Total number of devices employed stood at 14 lakh as of October.

  • Over 28 lakh partner loans disbursed through network in the quarter ended September, up 714%.

  • Value of loans disbursed at Rs 1,260 crore in the quarter compared with Rs 210 crore a year ago.

The take rate, or the percentage of this gross merchandise value that Paytm records as its revenue, was not disclosed in the update.

"Our strong operating performance continued in the month of October 2021, with increasing numbers of consumers and merchants transacting on our ecosystem, increasing frequency of transactions and increasing adoption of our different products and services," the release said.

Ahead of Paytm's market debut, Macquarie had initiated coverage on the stock with an 'underperform' rating and a target price of Rs 1,200—40% below its issue price. The company is a "cash guzzler" and achieving scale with profitability is going to be a big challenge, Macquarie had said.

Shares of Paytm's parent dropped near to Macquarie's target price before closing a wee bit higher at Rs 1,359 on the NSE. That gives it a market capitalisation of Rs 89,394 crore.

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