 "Paytm plummets 8% after CTO's resignation; Deependra Singh to take over")
Shares of One 97 Communications, parent of fintech major Paytm dropped as much as 8.35 per cent at Rs 637.10 a piece on the NSE in Monday’s intraday trade. This came after the company saw a top level management shift in which Manmeet Singh Dhody stepped down as Chief Technology Officer - Payments, effective October 4. Dhody has transitioned to a new role as an AI Fellow at the company.
The board has approved the appointment of Deependra Singh Rathore as Chief Technology Officer - Payments, effective October 4. Previously, Deependra Singh Rathore served as Senior Vice President - Technology at Paytm, the company said in an exchange filing on Friday.
Rathore has been with Company and its associate company, Paytm Payments Bank since January 2016. He is currently the Senior Vice President - Technology and drives AI led strategic initiatives and oversees the design and implementation of payment products and services, the company said.
“At Paytm, he has built and enhanced payments technology to provide exhaustive payment solutions to merchants and customers such as online payment gateway, QR payments, Card Payments. Prior to joining Paytm, Mr. Rathore worked with Agnity, Snapdeal during 2004 to 2016 as an Engineering Manager,” One 97 Communications said in the filing.
Recently, domestic brokerage firm Emkay upgraded the stock to ‘Add’ from ‘Reduce.’ Notably, the brokerage raised the target price by 2 times or 100 per cent to Rs 750 per share, from Rs 375 earlier.
Analysts at Emkay said easing regulatory stance shall pave the way for approvals from the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)/Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to onboard new users/online merchants which should drive the business turnaround. Additionally, Paytm’s cost optimisation measures should put the company on the early path to profitability.
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"We upgrade Paytm to ‘Add’, revising up our discount cash flow (DCF)-based target price (TP) to Rs 750 per share (earlier Rs 375), implying 3.6x/3x FY6E/27E EV/operating revenue,” Emkay analysts said in a note.
Paytm is India’s leading mobile payments and financial services distribution company, known for popularising mobile QR payments. As an early mover in the fintech space, it has developed technologies to assist small businesses with payments and commerce.
Recently, Paytm expanded into insurance, equity broking, and wealth distribution, enhancing its cross-selling opportunities.
Additionally, the company sold its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato for Rs 2,048 crore to concentrate on its core payment and financial services.
At 3:19 PM, the stock price of the company was up by 6.73 per cent at Rs 648.40 a piece on the NSE. By comparison, the NSE’s Nifty50 was down 0.86 per cent to 24,800.20 level.