Paytm Appoints Adani Group Arm To Build Rs 800-Crore Tech Campus In Noida

Paytm parent One 97 Communications Ltd. announced on Tuesday the appointment of Adani Infrastructure & Developers' arm, Manorview Developers, to build a tech campus in Noida, as per an exchange filing.

The Adani Group entity is in charge of engineering, procurement and construction services of the IT campus, and the total development cost is estimated to be nearly Rs 800 crore, as per the filing. The overall project development timeline is targeted to be five years from the date of sanction.

Paytm also informed that the previous joint development agreement in place with ACE Builders and Promoters would not be executed. The company had reported its first-ever profit since listing on Tuesday, while disclosing its June quarter results.

The company posted a bottom line of Rs 122.5 crore, as compared to a Rs 540-crore net loss reported in the preceding quarter. In April, Paytm Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma had said during Q4 earnings call that, "We are at a verge of PAT (profit after tax) profitability. I am very sure that next quarter onwards, if everything goes as we are seeing, it could very well be a PAT quarter."

On the operational side, Paytm's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation came in positive. The firm logged an Ebitda of Rs 71.5 crore, as compared to loss of Rs 88.6 crore in the preceding quarter.

Before the quarterly results were declared, One 97 Communication's stock settled 3.48% higher at Rs 1,051.05 apiece on the NSE, compared to a 0.12% decline in the benchmark Nifty.

Out of the 19 analysts tracking the company, nine maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock, seven recommend a 'hold', and three mention a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analysts' price target implies a potential downside of 7.8%.