PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India has resigned as auditor of Paytm Payments Services, the payments aggregator said on August 7, adding that the Kolkata-based SR Batliboi & Associates LLP has been appointed as the official auditor in its place.
Earlier in March, the company had said that it will propose for the appointment of SR Batliboi as the new auditor after completion of the five-year term of its current auditor PwC at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM).
"...we wish to inform you that Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants LLP, Statutory Auditors of material subsidiary i.e. Paytm
Payments Services Limited (PPSL) have resigned with effect from August 07, 2023," stated the regulatory filing made today.
"S.R. Batliboi & Associates LLP has been appointed as the Statutory Auditors of PPSL with effect from August 07, 2023," it further added.
Prior to the resignation, PwC noted, "We have completed the statutory audit for the year ended March 31, 2023, and issued our reports on May 2, 2023. Further, we have completed the limited review on unaudited special purpose interim condensed financial statements for the quarter ended June 3o, 2023 and issued our report on July 19, 2023."
The auditor resignation comes days after One97 Communications, Paytm's parent company, had declared its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. In the said quarter, the payments firm reported a 39.4 percent growth in revenue even as the company narrowed its losses by 45 percent to Rs 358 crore in Q1 from Rs 645 crore it had reported during the same period of last financial year.
Paytm's overall metrics seem to be improving better than expected with the net payment margin going up, owing to the increase in merchant subscription revenues. Its payment processing margin also improved due to non-UPI transactions such as card and EMI instruments growing relatively faster for the company.
Meanwhile, earlier today, founder and chief executive officer of One 97 Communications Limited Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Antfin entered into an agreement where Sharma will purchase a 10.3 percent stake in Paytm, making Sharma and the promoter entities the largest shareholder in Paytm.
As per the filing, an overseas entity 100 percent owned by Sharma called Resilient Asset Management B.V will acquire the stake in Paytm from Antfin through an off-market transfer. On closing of this transaction, Sharma’s shareholding in Paytm will increase to 19.42 percent, whereas Antfin’s shareholding will reduce to 13.5 percent.
The announcement led Paytm's share soaring more than 10 percent from the previous close. At 10 am, the stock was trading at Rs 851 on the National Stock Exchange.
Shares of Paytm on August 7 closed 6.95 percent higher at Rs 850.75 apiece on BSE.
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