Bhavesh Gupta's resignation as the COO and President of Paytm led to a significant drop in One 97 Communications' shares, which fell by over 5% in early trade, reaching a low of Rs 351.70 on Monday.
The company's Board of Directors accepted Gupta's resignation, effective from the close of business hours on May 31, 2024. In a filing to the stock exchanges, Paytm acknowledged Gupta's decision, attributing it to personal reasons.
Gupta expressed confidence in Paytm's future and mentioned his intention to support the company in an advisory role. He emphasized the depth of leadership in payments and financial services built over the past few years.
This announcement comes amidst other recent departures within Paytm, including Surinder Chawla, Managing Director and CEO of Paytm Payments Bank Limited, who resigned last month citing personal reasons. The company has also seen changes in leadership roles, with Rakesh Singh appointed as the new CEO of Paytm Money, replacing Varun Sridhar.
Paytm highlighted its efforts to strengthen its leadership team, with a focus on succession planning and enhancing the roles of next-line leaders. Bank of America (BofA) restarted coverage on One 97 Communications with an 'Underperform' rating, citing strong competition in the payments sector and expectations of weak fourth-quarter earnings, partly due to regulatory actions by the Reserve Bank of India.
