Paytm target slashed by Macquarie on regulatory woes | TechCrunch

Macquarie dramatically cut its 12-month price target on One97 Communications Ltd., the parent company of digital payments firm Paytm, citing heightened regulatory scrutiny. Macquarie, which predicted the slump at Paytm before the listing, lowered its target to 275 rupees, the most brutal by any major brokerage firm.

Paytm, which ended the Monday trading session at 419.85 Indian rupees, is reeling from the Indian central bank’s clampdown. The Reserve Bank of India recently ordered Paytm to all but shut down Paytm Payments Bank, an associate of Paytm that processes all its transactions.

The analyst group, led by Suresh Ganpathy, wrote in a note Tuesday that it believes Paytm will see a sharp reduction in revenues and the regulatory crackdown poses a “serious risk of exodus of customers.” At 275 rupees, Paytm’s market cap would have shrunk to about $2.1 billion.

“We cut revenues sharply as we reduce both payments and distribution business revenues (60-65% over FY25/26E). Moving payment bank customers to another bank accounts or moving related merchant accounts to other bank accounts will require KYC (Know your customer) to be done again based on our channel checks with partners, indicating that migration within RBI’s Feb 29th deadline will be an arduous task.”

More to follow.