Paytm Bonus Issue: Board meet today to reward over 7.5 lakh small shareholders

Shares of One97 Communications Ltd., parent company of the payments services provider Paytm, will be in focus on Monday, July 20, ahead of its board meeting, which will be considering two agendas.

The board will be considering results for the June quarter today, along with a proposal to issue bonus shares.

This will be the first time in Paytm's history as a public company that it will be issuing bonus shares to its shareholders. Record date for the bonus issue, which will be subject to shareholder approval, has not yet been disclosed.

At the end of the June quarter, Paytm had a total of over 7.5 lakh small retail shareholders, or those with authorised share capital of upto ₹2 lakh. These retail shareholders own over 8% stake in the company.

However, they have been trimming down their stake in the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led enterprise for nine quarters in a row, as per shareholding data available on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

While retail has been trimming down its stake in Paytm, Mutual Funds have been consistently adding to their positions. At the end of the June quarter, Mutual Funds owned a 17.94% stake in Paytm. The company has no promoter shareholding. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is also classified as a public shareholder, with a 9% stake.

Shares of Paytm had made their stock market debut back in 2021 at an IPO price of ₹2,150 per share, a level that the stock has not managed to retest in the last five years. Owing to regulatory issues, shares had declined to a record low of ₹300 before rebounding.

At the close of Friday's trade, shares of Paytm traded at ₹1,340, still well below its issue price, but well over 4x from their record low levels. The stock has gained 23% in the last one month, as a result of which, it has also turned positive on a year-to-date basis.