Paytm allots 2.03 lakh stock options to ESOP pool
The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company has approved at least three rounds of ESOPs in recent months.
Paytm parent One97 Communications on Friday expanded its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and allotted 2,03,137 stock options to the pool.
Each stock option has a face value of Rs 1 each and an exercise price of Rs 9 per stock option.
Based on the closing price of One97 on Friday, the total value of these stock options is about Rs 18.27 crore.
According to the BSE filing, the stock options granted can be exercised anytime during the active employment of an employee from the date of vesting of the respective options.
Additionally, during the board meeting held on January 17th, the Board’s Nomination and Remuneration
Committee also took note of 17,68,469 cancelled or lapsed stock options.
This is the fourth round of ESOP allotment by firm following Paytm’s return to profitability in the second quarter FY24, helped by the sale of its ticketing business to food tech platform Zomato.
The fintech firm reported a profit of Rs 930 crore in Q2 FY24, compared to a loss of Rs 840.1 crore in the previous quarter. Its revenue from operations grew 10.51% to Rs 1,659.5 crore in Q2 FY24, from Rs 1,501.6 crore in Q1 FY24.
The previous round of ESOP allotment was in December 2024 when the board approved the allotment of 2,44,801 fully paid-up equity shares to eligible employees.
Recently, the company’s Singapore-based subsidiary sold all its stock acquisition rights in Japan’s PayPay to Softbank Vision Fund 2 for $279.2 million.
The sale is expected to increase Paytm’s consolidated cash balance as it looks to streamline operations to focus on its core business in India.
Shares of One97 Communications closed at Rs 894.95 apiece on BSE.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan