PAYTM

** Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank SURO.BO up 3.3% to 131.5 rupees

** Bank partners with Paytm PAYT.NS to launch Paytm post paid as credit line on UPI, which will offer up to 30 days of interest-free credit

** Stock set to rise most in a session in over a month

** More than 18,500 shares traded, 2.2x its 30-day moving avg

** YTD, SURO down ~6%

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 8697274436;))

** Shares of Paytm PAYT.NS jump 11% this week, set for the best weekly gain since November

** Stock gains 20% in the last two weeks

** Co's unit received RBI's approval last week to operate as a payment aggregator, lifting a merchant onboarding ban in place since November 2022

** 16 analysts covering PAYT have a "buy" rating on average; median PT is 1,160 rupees , data compiled by LSEG

** Stock up 29% YTD

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar)

(([email protected]))

By Nishit Navin

BENGALURU, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Indian fintech firm PayNearby plans to launch an initial public offering in the next financial year to fund expansion, its chief executive said on Thursday, making it the latest to target a red-hot market that raised record sums in 2024.

India was the world's second-biggest IPO market after the United States in the first half of 2025, accounting for 12% of total proceeds globally, LSEG data shows.

"We have met three merchant bankers and are in the process of identifying the one to go ahead with for the IPO. Then we will begin the process of filing the draft red herring prospectus," CEO and Managing Director Anand Kumar Bajaj said in an interview.

Indian fintech giants such as Paytm PAYT.NS, PhonePe and BharatPe dominate the market with payments and lending, but PayNearby takes a different route by building a vast network of neighborhood retailers to deliver digital services.

The company provides financial services to retail stores, thereby enabling them to offer cash withdrawal, remittance, bill payment and other services to their local communities and expects revenue to grow about 10% in the current fiscal year.

It reported gross revenue of about 3 billion rupees ($34.9 million) and profit of 120 million rupees in the year ended March 2025.

PayNearby, which has partnered with 1.2 million retailers, plans to add 500,000 more to that network over the next two years, Bajaj said. It also aims to hire around 550 to 600 employees by the end of the current fiscal year.

($1 = 87.2490 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

(([email protected];))

** India's Paytm PAYT.NS jumps 5.4% to 1,180 rupees, its highest level since early January 2022

** Fintech firm says Reserve Bank of India has granted authorisation to unit Paytm Payments Services to operate as an online payment aggregator

** Co has been restricted from on-boarding new online merchants in its payment gateway business since November 2022

** Brokerage Citi says the licence win is a positive for sentiments as it lifts a major regulatory restriction on co's business

** Co can now leverage its relative scale and product development capabilities to be more competitive vs earlier in the segment, it adds

** Avg rating of 16 analysts on PAYT is "buy"; median PT is 1,160 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock has gained ~10% so far in 2025

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Aug 12 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - RESERVE BANK OF INDIA GRANTED ‘IN-PRINCIPLE’ AUTHORISATION TO Paytm Payments Services

• PAYTM - AUTHORISATION TO PPSL TO OPERATE AS AN ONLINE PAYMENT AGGREGATOR

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Ant Group Co Ltd 688688.SS:

• ANT GROUP SELLS 37.3 MILLION SHARES IN INDIA'S PAYTM VIA BULK DEAL - EXCHANGE DATA

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: 688688.SS

(([email protected];;))

** India's Paytm PAYT.NS jumps as much as 2.9% in early trade before paring gains; last up 0.1%

** Fintech firm posts first quarterly profit since September 2024, driven by robust growth in lending business and tight cost controls, and expects further earnings boost

** Improving core business resulted in strong earnings, says Jefferies; upgrades stock to "buy" from "hold"

** Adds, PAYT has done well to rebound from regulatory and business issues in 2024 by managing costs and rebuilding business momentum

** Emkay Global ("buy," PT: 1,350 rupees) says PAYT is executing well on acquiring merchants, leveraging its "superior" soundbox products and distributing loans

** Co's disbursement growth expected to remain healthy given improving tailwinds in unsecured lending - Motilal Oswal ("neutral," PT: 1,025 rupees)

** Stock up 3.3% YTD

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

July 22 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM Q1 EBITDA BEFORE ESOP COST AT 1.02 BILLION RUPEES

• PAYTM - SEEING EARLY SIGNS OF USER GROWTH AND RETENTION

• PAYTM - EXPECTS FURTHER IMPROVEMENT IN PROFITABILITY

• PAYTM - EXPECT THE CONTRIBUTION MARGIN TO BE IN THE MID TO HIGH 50S PERCENT FOR THE YEAR

• PAYTM - EXPECT INDIRECT EXPENSES AS A PERCENT OF REVENUES TO CONTINUE DECLINING OVER TIME

• PAYTM - FOR FY 2026, WE EXPECT ESOP COST TO BE IN THE RANGE OF 2.5-2.75 BILLION RUPEES

• PAYTM - DEPRECIATION & AMORTIZATION EXPECTED TO BE IN RANGE OF 5-6 BILLION RUPEES IN FY 2026

• PAYTM - ANTICIPATE GROWTH IN FINANCIAL SERVICES CUSTOMERS WITHIN LOAN DISTRIBUTION, PAYTM MONEY

• PAYTM - FOR PERSONAL LOANS, BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS, SEES EARLY SIGNS OF RECOVERY IN CREDIT CYCLE

• PAYTM - IN FINANCIAL SERVICES, GOING FORWARD, EXPECT HIGHER SHARE OF NON-DLG DISBURSEMENTS

• PAYTM - FOR ADDITIONAL LONG-TERM GROWTH, EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN SELECT INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIES

• PAYTM - GOING FORWARD, DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES REVENUE GROWTH TO BE SLOWER SEQUENTIALLY

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

July 17 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATES SUBSIDIARY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Source text: ID:nBSE1nHWjm

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

June 12 (Reuters) - Shares of digital payments firm Paytm PAYT.NS slumped as much as 10% on Thursday after India's finance ministry said that reports about the introduction of fees on the popular unified payments interface (UPI) transactions were false and baseless.

The shares posted their sharpest intraday fall since February 2024, before coming off lows to trade down 8%. India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI was trading 0.2% lower.

In India, merchants pay fees to banks or payment service providers, such as Paytm, for transactions. There is no fees on UPI payments.

The delay or non-introduction of the fees is "sentiment negative for Paytm", brokerage UBS said, adding that the firm's adjusted core profits could decline more than 10% in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 if increased incentives are absent.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

** India's Paytm PAYT.NS sheds 2.7% to 843 rupees in heavy volume

** Ant Group to sell 4% stake in Paytm at floor price of 809.75 rupees/shr, a 6.5% discount to Mon close

** Alibaba 9988.HK affiliate Ant holds 9.85% stake in the digital payments firm

** Nearly 12 mln PAYT shares traded in first 30 mins of trading, vs the 6-month daily moving avg of 7 mln

** Stock gained 4% on Mon in broad market rally, but is down 17% YTD

** Avg rating of 16 analysts on PAYT at "buy"; median PT is 950 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

Adds details, background paragraph 3 onwards

May 8 (Reuters) - Indian payments firm Paytm PAYT.NS and its founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma have settled an employee stock options violations case with the country's markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said on Thursday.

As part of the settlement, Sharma has been prohibited from accepting fresh employee stock options (ESOPs) from any listed company for three years, while Paytm and Sharma each paid 11.1 million rupees ($129,884) each, SEBI said.

Last August, the SEBI determined that the grant of 21 million ESOPs to Sharma violated its rules governing share-based employee benefits. As per Indian rules, large shareholders who can influence company decisions cannot hold ESOPs.

Consequently, last month, Sharma had foregone these ESOPs and as a result, Paytm took a related 4.92 billion rupees one-time charge in the previous quarter.

Sharma owned a 14.7% stake in Paytm a year before the company went public in 2021. To become eligible for ESOP grants, he reduced his shareholding to 9.1% by transferring 30.97 million shares to Axis Trustee Services, which acted on behalf of the Sharma family trust.

Sharma's brother, Ajay Shekhar Sharma, also settled with SEBI in the same case by cancelling the stock options granted to him.

($1 = 85.4610 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

(([email protected]; 8800437922;))

May 6 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

- INCURS ONE TIME CHARGE OF 5.22 BILLION RUPEES IN Q4
- Q4 ONE-TIME CHARGE INCLUDES ACCELERATED CHARGE OF 4.92 BILLION RUPEES AFTER CEO SAID WILL FOREGO ESOPS
- INDUSTRY EXPECTS MDR ON UPI FOR LARGE MERCHANTS TO BE ALLOWED IN NEAR FUTURE
- EXPECT INDIRECT EXPENSES TO INCREASE IN Q1 FY 2026 ON ACCOUNT OF ANNUAL APPRAISALS

- FROM Q1 FY 2026, ESOP COST WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER

- Q1 FY 2026 ESOP COST ESTIMATED TO BE IN THE RANGE OF 750 MLN RUPEES TO 1 BLN RUPEES
- EXPECT CAPEX TO INCREASE IN LINE WITH INCREASED PACE OF DEVICE DEPLOYMENT

- LOOKING AHEAD, ANTICIPATE GROWTH IN FINANCIAL SERVICES CUSTOMERS IN LOAN DISTRIBUTION, PAYTM MONEY

- GOING FORWARD CAPEX WILL BE MUCH LOWER THAN FY 2024 LEVELS (PRE DISRUPTION)

- EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN SELECT INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIES

- PLAN TO INCREASE HIGH MARGIN FINANCIAL SERVICES REVENUE BY EXPANDING PARTNERS AND PRODUCTS

- EXPECT D&A EXPENSES TO BE IN THE RANGE OF 5-6 BLN RUPEES IN FY 2026

Source text: ID:nNSE63d218

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

April 30 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - PCTL INCORPORATED PAYTM ARAB PAYMENTS IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

• PAYTM - UNIT APPROVED SUBSCRIPTION AMOUNT OF AED 8 MILLION FOR ACQUISITION OF PAYTM ARAB SHARES

Source text: ID:nBSE5TCLCq

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Adds details, background paragraph 2 onwards

April 16 (Reuters) - India's Paytm PAYT.NS said on Wednesday founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma has foregone 21 million employee stock options granted to him, months after the country's markets regulator issued show-cause notices over violation of rules on grant of share-based employee benefits.

Last August, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) determined that the grant of 21 million employee stock options (ESOPs) to Sharma violated its rules governing share-based employee benefits.

As per Indian rules, large shareholders with ability to influence company decisions cannot hold ESOPs.

Sharma owned a 14.7% stake in Paytm a year before the company's 2021 public filing. To become eligible for ESOP grants, he reduced his shareholding to 9.1% by transferring 30.97 million shares to Axis Trustee Services, which acted on behalf of the Sharma family trust.

SEBI had issued these notices to Sharma and other board members who held roles during Paytm's November 2021 IPO over alleged misrepresentation of facts.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Tasim Zahid)

(([email protected]; 8800437922;))

April 2 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• ONE 97 COMMUNICATIONS LTD - PAYTM PARTNERS WITH GHMC TO DEPLOY 400 CARD MACHINES

Source text: ID:nBSEbTRRhQ

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Paytm PAYT.NS fall 4.6% to 727.80 rupees, One Mobikwik Systems ONEM.NS down 5% to 316.90 rupees

** India's union cabinet approved incentive of 15 bln rupees ($174 mln) for low-value UPI transactions between April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025

** UPI is a real-time payment system to transfer money between bank accounts

** Brokerage Jefferies said government's incentives for low-value UPI transactions are half of last year's despite rise in such transactions

** Introduction of merchant charges (MDR) on UPI transactions could help Paytm in offsetting impact from reduction in UPI incentives, Jefferies says

** Paytm set to fall after gaining for three straight sessions, down ~28% YTD

** ONEM down ~45% in 2025

($1 = 86.2220 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Paytm parent One 97 Communications PAYT.NS rise 6.2% to 731.45 rupees

** Fintech co's unit Paytm Money gets approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India to offer SEBI-compliant research services, including investment insights, research reports, and data-driven analysis

** The services will be integrated into Paytm Money app as part of research and advisory offering, co says

** Stock is rated the equivalent of 'hold' on average by 16 analysts, with PT of 876.25 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, PAYT down about 28%

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, March 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walmart WMT.N is looking for a cashback too soon. The U.S. retailer is preparing a Mumbai listing of PhonePe, India's leading facilitator of consumer mobile phone-based payments. But a mooted $15 billion valuation looks punchy, and will draw unflattering comparisons to the disastrous initial public offering of Paytm-owner One 97 Communications PAYT.NS.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company picked up PhonePe as part of its 2018 purchase of Flipkart, a deal that valued the e-commerce rival to Amazon AMZN.O at $21 billion. The payments business emerged as a market leader, ahead of Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google Pay and smaller rival Paytm. Through India's Unified Payments Interface channel, PhonePe boasts 530 million customers and a 48% market share, equivalent to $137 billion worth of monthly transactions.

That may not justify an IPO valuation of 25 times sales for the year ended March 2024, however. The multiple is six times its top listed rival: Paytm debuted at 44 times sales in 2021 but the stock has crashed below its IPO price.

True, PhonePe is a superior business in some ways. It has a deep-pocketed American parent and none of the geopolitical worries Paytm suffers as a result of its Chinese backing. An affiliate of Ant Group, a Hangzhou-based financial firm, continues to own almost 10% of the company. PhonePe also has had less trouble with regulators than its rival.

Yet while revenue is growing quickly, PhonePe is unprofitable like Paytm despite slashing the incentives it offers to retain customers. The company generated a net loss of $134 million in the year ended March 2024, financial filings show. That is hard to reverse because New Delhi keeps fees on UPI transactions at zero and is committed to low-cost payments. The government compensates service providers but that is just 10% of PhonePe's revenue.

PhonePe can cross-sell products including consumer loans and insurance but the company could easily lose its edge in the payments market too if India implements a longstanding plan to cap the individual market share of UPI apps at 30% of overall transaction volume.

Minority investors in PhonePe may be impatient for an exit. Plus Walmart paid India about $1 billion in tax in 2022 to redomicile to the country from Singapore. But Indian investors are impatient with lossmaking companies and they will ask why Walmart is testing its luck when memories of the Paytm disaster remain so fresh, instead of waiting for its payments business to prove itself.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X

CONTEXT NEWS

Walmart-backed financial technology startup PhonePe plans to seek a valuation of up to $15 billion in an initial public offering in India, news website Moneycontrol reported on February 25, citing unnamed industry sources.

The digital payments firm is working with Kotak Mahindra Capital, JPMorgan, Citi and Morgan Stanley on the deal, the report addded.

(Editing by Una Galani and Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

** Paytm PAYT.NS slips as much as 3.3% to 702.80 rupees

** India's financial crime fighting agency says probe revealed co, units violated foreign exchange laws "to the tune of 6.11 bln rupees (~$70 mln)"

** PAYT says it is working to resolve matter in accordance with applicable laws, regulatory processes

** Stock dropped as much as 4.4% on Monday after co said it got show-cause notice from Enforcement Directorate for allegedly violating Foreign Exchange Management Act during 2015-2019

** Stock rated "hold" on avg; median PT is 950 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** PAYT drops 29% YTD

($1 = 87.3620 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

** Shares of India's Paytm PAYT.NS shed as much as 4.4% to 683.55 rupees; last down 1.2%

** Stock set for fifth straight session of decline, if losses hold

** Fintech firm says it got show-cause notice from Enforcement Directorate alleging violations of India's Foreign Exchange Management Act during 2015-2019

** Avg rating of 16 analysts on PAYT at "hold"; median PT is 950 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock drops 31% YTD

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

Removes extraneous word 'the' in paragraph 2

March 1 (Reuters) - India's Paytm PAYT.NS received a show cause notice from India's financial crime fighting agency on Saturday for allegedly violating the country's Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The notice relates to violations relating to the acquisition of two subsidiaries - Little Internet Private Limited and Nearbuy India Private Limited for the years 2015 to 2019, Paytm said in a statement.

This pertains to a period when these companies were not subsidiaries of Paytm, it said.

The notice has no impact on its services to its consumers and merchants, the company added.

(Reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi and Aditi Shah; editing by David Evans)

(([email protected];))

Feb 26 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• INDIA GOVERNMENT: DPIIT SIGNS MOU WITH PAYTM

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Feb 20 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - LAUNCHES SOLAR SOUNDBOX FOR MERCHANTS

Source text: ID:nnAPN2NMBXY

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Feb 3 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM CLOUD APPROVES USD 1 MILLION INVESTMENT IN SEVEN TECHNOLOGY LLC

• PAYTM CLOUD TO ACQUIRE 25% STAKE IN SEVEN TECHNOLOGY LLC

• SEVEN TECHNOLOGY, DINIE WILL BECOME ASSOCIATE ENTITIES

Source text: ID:nBSE1ZDRtg

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

Jan 27 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - RESIGNATION OF NAKUL JAIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO OF PAYTM PAYMENTS SERVICES LIMITED

• PAYTM - JAIN HAS RESIGNED FROM HIS POSITION W.E.F. CLOSE OF BUSINESS HOURS ON MARCH 31, 2025 OR AN EARLIER MUTUALLY AGREED DATE

Source text: [https://tinyurl.com/2d8fz3n6]

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Jan 24 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM CONFIRMS NO NEW NOTICE FROM ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE

• CONFIRM CO HAD FULLY COOPERATED WITH AUTHORITIES AND HAD COMPLIED WITH ALL THEIR DIRECTIVES

• CLARIFIES NO PROBE ON COMPANY OR SUBSIDIARIES, ED’S PROBE ON THIRD-PARTY MERCHANTS

Source text: ID:nBSE7ZV16n

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

Corrects to 2.04 billion rupees, from 2.08 billion rupees, in paragraph 2

Jan 20 (Reuters) - India's Paytm PAYT.NS reported a narrower sequential loss before exceptional items on Monday as its digital payments business recovered from the winding down of its payments bank unit.

The company posted a loss of 2.04 billion rupees ($23.58 million) before exceptional items and tax for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a 4.07-billion-rupee loss in the previous quarter.

($1 = 86.4750 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin)

(([email protected];))

Jan 17 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• SETTLEMENT ORDER IN THE MATTER OF ONE97 COMMUNICATIONS

• FORMER COMPLIANCE OFFIECER, DIRECTORS SETTLE WITH MARKETS REGULATOR FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Paytm PAYT.NS climb ~5% to 901.70 rupees

** Brokerage Emkay Global upgrades fintech firm to "Buy" from "Add", and raises PT to 1,050 rupees from 750 rupees

** Recent approval from the country's payments regulator NPCI to sign new UPI users eases a major regulatory overhang, says Emkay

** NPCI nod for new UPI users would help PAYT to rebuild monthly transacting users' base over the next 12-18 months - Emkay

** Adds, PAYT will also be able to cross retail financial products like insurance and loans, thereby improving per user revenue

** Stock has gained ~28% since getting the nod from NPCI in October 2024

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))