Paytm falls 2% after Vijay Shekhar Sharma surrenders 21 million ESOPs

Paytm shares were quoting at ₹851.65, down 1.54 per cent compared to the previous day's close of ₹864.95

Paytm share price: Shares of One97 Communications, parent company of Paytm, slipped over 2 per cent to hit an intraday low of ₹848 on Thursday after managing director and chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma voluntarily surrendered 21 million shares.

 

The shares were granted to Sharma through the One97 Communications employee stock option plan (ESOP) during the company's listing. The ESOPs are worth over ₹1,800 crore as per Paytm's April 16 closing price of ₹864.95 

The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board of the Company (NRC) at its meeting held on April 16, 2025, noted that Sharma has voluntarily foregone all 21 million ESOPs granted to him under the One97 Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2019, with immediate effect, the company said in an exchange filing.  ALSO READ | Nifty Bank at 4-mth high; HDFC, ICICI Bank scale new peaks ahead of Q4 nos

 

"Acting on the aforementioned voluntary offer, the NRC has consequently treated the unvested ESOPs in question as cancelled and the same have been returned back to the ESOP pool under One97 Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2019," the fintech major said. 

 

This will reduce the company's ESOP-related expenses by ₹492 crore in Q4 FY25 and equivalent in future years. 

At 12:32 PM, Paytm shares were quoting at ₹855.35, down 1.11 per cent compared to the previous day's close of ₹864.95 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index was trading at 23,649.70, 212.50 points or 0.91 per cent. On a year-to-date basis, the stock has plunged around 13 per cent compared to a 0.60 per cent decrease in the Nifty50 index. The company’s total market capitalisation stood at ₹54,322.11 crore.  

In August 2024, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a show-cause notice to Paytm regarding the ESOP grant to Sharma for breaching rules governing share-based employee benefits. Large shareholders with the power to influence company decisions are not allowed to hold ESOPs, according to Sebi norms.  ALSO READ | Venus Remedies shares climb 14% after US FDA grants QIDP status to VRP-034

One97 Communications Q3 flashback

In the December 2024 quarter (Q3 FY25), Paytm reported a net loss of ₹208 crore down from ₹220 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The company's revenue from operations stood at ₹1,826 crore in Q3 FY25, down 36 per cent from ₹2,850 crore in the year-ago period. Its expenses declined by 31 per cent to ₹2,219.8 crore in Q3 FY25 from ₹3,216.3 crore in Q3 FY24.