GROWW

Adds details and background throughout

April 20 (Reuters) - Indian discount brokerage Groww's BILO.NS quarterly profit more than doubled, as Middle East war–driven market volatility boosted trading activity in derivatives and commodities, the company said on Monday, while warning that prolonged market weakness carries risks for the brokerage's growth.

The Tiger Global-backed firm's consolidated net profit stood at 6.86 billion rupees ($73.73 million) for the quarter ended March 31, up from 3.1 billion rupees a year ago.

If the market remains weak for a longer period of time due to persistent selling by foreign investors, it could hurt sentiment, slow new user addition and asset inflows, the company said.

The number of Groww's transacting users rose to 16.7 million during the quarter, up 20% from last year and 4.7% sequentially. Total customer assets, however, declined 1.1% from the previous quarter.

In February, analysts had warned that tighter central bank lending and collateral norms could pressure brokerage funding and prompt operators to raise capital. Along with higher transaction taxes, the measures were seen as likely to curb derivatives trading activity.

There was little indication of that though in the numbers for the equity derivatives segment that were reported Monday, which included a 43.1% rise in average orders per user from last year, accounting for 55% of Groww's total income.

Groww, which was founded almost a decade ago, is the country's largest online investment platform by active users and has onboarded more than 50 million customers, according to its website.

The firm reported an 88% rise in revenue from operations to 15.05 billion rupees, while expenses stood at 1.2 billion rupees.

Last week, peer Angel One's ANGO.NS profit surged 83%, driven by stronger client trading activity and higher order volumes. Early April data showing stable client engagement led Citi analysts to expect the momentum to be sustained.

($1 = 93.0400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

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** Brokerage BofA Securities initiates India's Billionbrains Garage Ventures, parent of Groww BILO.NS, with "buy" rating, sets PT at 235 rupees

** Shares of BILO up 2.3% to 213 rupees

** BILO set for sixth straight session of gains

** Co well positioned to outpace industry growth owing to its strong focus on new-to-investing customers and increasing product adoption amongst existing users- BofA

** BofA expects rev growth of 30% CAGR over FY26E-28E for co

** Co has one of the highest profit margins among peers- BofA

** BILO rated "buy" on avg by 9 analysts covering it; median PT at 190 rupees- data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, BILO up 33.5%

(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru)

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March 25 (Reuters) -

• INDIA ANTITRUST BODY: APPROVES STAKE BUY IN GROWW ASSET MANAGEMENT BY STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS, INC

Further company coverage: BILO.NS

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By Jaspreet Kalra

MUMBAI, March 4 (Reuters) - Walmart-backed Indian fintech firm PhonePe PHOP.NS, the country's most used payments platform, is aiming to list at a valuation of between $9 billion and $10.5 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

That suggests the IPO will raise about $900 million to $1.05 billion. But even at the top end, the deal would mark a cut from the $12 billion valuation at which PhonePe last raised $100 million in private markets in 2023.

Walmart WMT.N will trim its stake in PhonePe by ‌about 12% in the firm's initial public offering, while Tiger Global and Microsoft MSFT.O plan to exit their stakes, according to the firm's IPO filing.

The three firms will sell around 50.7 million shares in the ⁠offering and PhonePe will not issue any new shares.

PhonePe, which competes with Google Pay and Paytm PAYT.NS in India, filed for its IPO in September and aims to complete the process by April, one of the sources said, although the timeline could shift depending on capital market conditions, including any impact from the Middle East conflict.

Both sources requested anonymity as the discussions are confidential. PhonePe, Walmart, Tiger Global, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The expected valuation of PhonePe, which means "on the phone" in Hindi, and timing of the issue have not been previously reported.

PhonePe's listing would make it India's second-largest fintech IPO, behind Paytm's about $20 billion listing in 2021.

Paytm currently trades at a market capitalization of $7.1 billion.

'MONETISATION REMAINS A QUESTION MARK'

PhonePe has more than 650 million registered users and processed nearly 10 billion of the 21.7 billion transactions on India's unified payments interface (UPI) in January, regulatory data showed. But payments in India remain a low-margin business.

India launched UPI in 2016 and barred companies from charging fees for the instant payment service to spur digital payments and reduce cash use in Asia's No.3 economy.

PhonePe's losses widened to 14.44 billion rupees ($158 million) in the six months ended September 30, from 12.03 billion rupees a year ago, while revenue rose about 22% to 39.18 billion rupees, the firm's IPO filing showed.

Two portfolio managers, who met the company's management in pre-IPO roadshows, said excitement around the country's fintech sector had cooled and that there were lingering questions around PhonePe's ability to monetise its user base - a key reason it may not achieve a valuation closer to its last funding round.

"Monetisation remains a question mark. Active users aren't growing at the same pace so the game is all about upsell and that remains to be seen," one of the portfolio managers said.

Investors also see India's fintech market as overcrowded with little differentiation among players, said a third source, a banker to the issue.

These sources also spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.

($1 = 92.1730 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra in Mumbai; additional reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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Feb 16 (Reuters) - Shares of Indian bourse BSE BSEL.NS and brokerages dropped between 2% and 9.5% on Monday, after the country's central bank tightened norms for bank lending to stock brokers and other market intermediaries.

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India issued revised norms on banks' lending to capital market participants, including higher collateral requirements for bank guarantees and a ban on lending for proprietary trading by brokers.

Jefferies said it sees BSE most affected by the new regulations on proprietary trading, which could result in a 10% earnings impact on the exchange operator.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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-- Source link: https://tinyurl.com/4desesu3

-- Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy

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** Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, parent of Groww BILO.NS, jump ~7% to 175 rupees; on track for best day in a month

** Co reported a 24% yoy rise in Q3 adjusted profit on Jan 14; rev rose 25% yoy

** Shares of BILO rose as much as 3% on Jan 14 after results, closed 1% higher

** Brokerage Jefferies ("buy", hikes PT to 195 rupees from 190 rupees) says new ventures ramping up faster than expected

** Adds adj PAT and rev beat was led by higher-than

expected commodity & margin trading facility revenues

** Brokerage Citi ("buy", PT at 195 rupees) says co delivered solid Q3, market share across segments

** BILO gained ~34% since listing on Nov 12, 2025

(Reporting by Komal Salecha)

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Jan 15 (Reuters) - Indian brokerage Angel One ANGO.NS reported a drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as regulatory curbs on equity derivatives designed to prevent speculative trading dampened retail investor participation.

The Mumbai-based company reported a 4.5% fall in its consolidated profit to 2.69 billion rupees ($29.78 million) for the period ended December 31.

Angel One recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of profit decline after markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India in late 2024 reduced the number of weekly options contracts and increased the minimum trading amount.

The nearly 30-year-old company, which competes with market leaders such as Zerodha, Groww BILO.NS and Upstox, derives more than 75% of its revenue from derivatives trading.

Angel One said the total number of orders in the December quarter fell about 10% year-on-year, while gross client acquisition dropped 16.3%.

Since the curbs, the company has stepped up its efforts to diversify into margin funding, wealth management, insurance, loan distribution and asset management.

The brokerage's fees and commission income fell 1.7% during the third quarter. However, its total quarterly revenue from operations rose 5.8% to 13.35 billion rupees, helped by an increase in interest income.

Angel One also approved an interim dividend of 23 rupees per share and a share split in 1:10 ratio, according to the exchange filing.

($1 = 90.3340 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu and Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Shreya Biswas)

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** Brokerage Citi starts coverage on Indian stock brokers Angel One ANGO.NS and Groww BILO.NS with a "Buy" rating

** Says prefer ANGO over BILO due to ANGO's brand re-positioning, steady business diversification, and benign valuations

** ANGO showed business agility by smoothly transitioning to a digital-first broking platform from a traditional one - Citi

** See earnings per share compounded annual growth rate of 26% over FY2026-29E for ANGO - note

** Sets PT for ANGO at 3215 rupees, BILO at 195 rupees

** ANGO shares up 2.5% to 2500 rupees; BILO down 0.62% to 161 rupees ahead of quarterly results

** Brokerage notes BILO's customer-centric approach, first mover advantage in direct MF, and leadership in retail broking, driving high brand recall

** Adds elevated cross-sell potential to a large captive customer pool, augers well for revenue accretion for BILO

** ANGO lost 20% in 2025, BILO up 61% from the issue price of 100 rupees since listing on Nov 12, 2025

(Reporting by Komal Salecha)

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** Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on Groww BILO.NS with "Buy" and PT at 185 rupees

** Brokerage says the D2C digital investment platform is well-positioned to compound earnings in a structurally under-penetrated Indian capital markets ecosystem

** Says expanding monetization for affluent clients via the wealth management platform should reduce earnings volatility

** Expects Groww's FY25-28 revenue to grow at 25% CAGR and PAT to grow at 30% CAGR

** Stock currently up 0.26%

(Reporting by Mridula Kumar in Bengaluru)

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Dec 3 (Reuters) - Meesho's MEES.NS $604 million initial public offering was fully subscribed the first day of bidding on Wednesday as retail investors rushed to grab a share of the Indian e-commerce platform amid a booming IPO market.

The company, which is seeking a valuation of up to $5.6 billion, received bids for 429.13 million shares as of 3:32 p.m. IST, against the 277.94 million shares on offer, exchange data showed.

Retail investors bid for 173.64 million shares, more than three-fold the 51.03 million shares set aside for them.

Meesho's listing is the latest in the line of IPOs from technology-driven companies like Groww BILO.NS, Lenskart LENS.NS and PhysicsWallah PHYS.NS taking advantage of a booming primary market.

More than 300 IPOs have raised $19.26 billion in India so far this year, setting the stage for 2025 to be a record year for IPO fundraising, LSEG data showed.

"We believe Meesho's asset-light model, zero-commission structure for sellers and disciplined cost optimisation have enabled rapid user and order growth while steadily improving unit economics," said Rajan Shinde, research analyst at Mehta Equities.

Backed by Softbank and Peak XV Partners, Meesho has already raised about $270 million from anchor investors such as SBI Innovative Opportunities Fund and Government of Singapore ahead of the public launch of its IPO. The offering closes on December 5.

Non-institutional investors bid for 1.38 times the number of shares on offer for them, and the portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers was also fully subscribed.

Meesho's revenue rose 29.4% to 55.78 billion rupees ($622.96 million) in the first half of fiscal 2026, and its losses narrowed 72.1% to 7 billion rupees, according to its IPO prospectus.

"While strong scale momentum supports the growth narrative, near-term profitability remains volatile," Angel One said.

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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** Shares of India's Billionbrains Garage Ventures BILO.NS rise 7% to a record high of 186 rupees

** Stock eyes fifth straight session of gains, has climbed every day since listing on November 12

** More than 58 million shares of BILO traded in multiple block deals at premium from last close - as per LSEG data

** Block deals at a premium of 3.3% to 11% from last close

** Co set to report first earnings report since listing on November 21

** Groww surges 66% from IPO issue price of 100 rupees

(Reporting by Komal Salecha)

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By Vivek Kumar M

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures BILO.NS, parent of online brokerage Groww, jumped 24% in their market debut on Wednesday, valuing the firm at 761 billion rupees ($8.6 billion) as investors bet on India's retail investing boom after a run of weak listings.

The stock opened at 112 rupees on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and climbed to 124 rupees, well above its 100-rupee issue price in a $754 million IPO.

The debut valued Groww above listed peers Motilal Oswal Financial Services MOFS.NS and Angel One ANGO.NS, and offered relief to IPO investors after subdued market entries from Lenskart Solutions LENS.NS, Orkla India ORKL.NS, and Studds Accessories STUS.NS earlier this month.

"Groww represents a strong long-term structural story and can act as a proxy for India's expanding capital market participation," said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice-president of research at Mehta Equities.

India's NSE has been adding about 10 million registered investors every six to seven months since March 2021, taking its total investor base to 120 million as of September, the country's largest bourse said.

Groww's listing comes amid a flurry of IPOs in India, where over 300 companies have raised $16.55 billion so far in 2025, according to LSEG data. The country’s primary market is on track to surpass last year's record $20.5 billion, led by big-ticket listings from Tata Capital TATC.NS, LG Electronics India LGEL.NS, and HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS.

Founded in 2016, Groww is among the country's largest online investment platforms, offering trading in equities, mutual funds, and fixed-income products.

Still, some analysts warned that much of the near-term optimism may already be priced in. "The current valuations seem to fully capture the short-term growth prospects, and investors should watch out for a couple of quarterly earnings before making further investment decisions," said Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at WealthMills Securities.

($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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