Paytm Shares Drop 18% After Shift To Larger Loans, Slowing Loans Below ₹50,000

Shares of fintech firm One97 Communications tumbled 18 per cent in the mid-session trade on Thursday, a day after the company announced it will focus on high-ticket lending and go slow on loans that are less than Rs 50,000.

The stock of the company plunged 17.90 per cent to Rs 667.50 apiece on the NSE, while it declined 17.87 per cent to Rs 667.95 per share on the BSE.

The scrip of Paytm hit the lower circuit of Rs 650.65 and 650.45 per piece on BSE and NSE, respectively, during intra-day.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 101.45 points or 0.15 per cent lower at 69,552.28 points, while NSE Nifty was down 25.80 points to 20,911.65.

On Wednesday, One97 Communications which operates under the Paytm brand said it will focus on high-ticket loans and go slow on loans that are less than Rs 50,000.

"We are seeing better performance on the merchant side than the consumer side.

"We will try to do a lot more there. Our focus now on the calibration of business is on high ticket, slowing down to less than Rs 50,000," Paytm's President and Chief Operating Officer Bhavesh Gupta said at an analyst call on Wednesday. He said postpaid loans will gradually start reducing in the overall lending business.

The company acquires 3.5 to 4 lakh new postpaid loan customers on an average every month, out of which around 70 per cent opted for borrowing of less than Rs 50,000.

Gupta said that new postpaid customers' growth rate may drop down.

He said more than 60 per cent of Paytm's new loan disbursal comes to its existing borrowers who have performed very well on the repayment front.

He said Paytm plans to onboard two more large non-banking financial services companies and one more bank for lending services in the next two quarters. Paytm, at present, has around 7 NBFC partners.

"There is now a good quality appetite for good quality credit," Gupta said.