Paytm parent One97 Communications Ltd and the Adani group have said the Adanis have not picked up a stake in the troubled fintech player.
Denying a report that Gautam Adani was in talks with Paytm CEO and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma for a possible stake purchase, OCL said the “news item is speculative and the company is not engaged in any discussions in this regard”.
An Adani group spokesperson separately said: “We categorically deny this baseless speculation. It is totally false and untrue.”
Despite the denial, the OCL share was locked in at the upper circuit. It closed at ₹359.55, a gain of ₹17.10 or 4.99 per cent over the last close.
Paytm has previously been subject to takeover speculation ever since the Reserve Bank clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL).
In February, there were reports that Jio Financial Services (JFSL) was the frontrunner to acquire Paytm’s wallet business.
Besides the Reliance group firm, HDFC Bank was in the race. Both JFSL and OCL had denied any negotiatons.
During the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024, losses at OCL widened to ₹550.5 crore against a loss of ₹167.5 crore in the year-ago period. Revenues at ₹2,267 crore fell 3 per cent over ₹2,334 crore a year ago.
OCL said its performance was affected by the disruptions on account of UPI transition and the PPBL embargo.
It said the adverse impact of the RBI action will be felt in the first quarter of this fiscal.
The annualised direct impact on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation) will be ₹500 crore.
Most of the impact will be felt in the first quarter as the products such as Paytm wallet and FASTag were operational during the most part of January-March 2024.
At an earnings call, Madhur Deora, president and group CFO, said its monthly transacting users declined and the number of active merchants have also dipped.
The RBI had barred PPBL from accepting deposits, credit transactions or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, and FASTags from March 15 onwards.
During the January-March period, OCL wrote off ₹227-crore investment for a 39 per cent stake in PPBL.
