Zomato shares slide 4% amidst ₹3,112 crore block deal; Antfin likely seller

Shares of online food aggregator Zomato Ltd declined as much as 3.58% to hit an intraday low of ₹160.10 apiece on the BSE after 19 crore shares worth ₹3,112 crore, which account for 2.1% stake, exchanged hands on the BSE. The name of buyers and sellers were not known immediately, but reports suggest that China's Alibaba Group arm was looking to pare stake in the foodtech company. 

As per the report, China's Alibaba Group arm, Antfin was planning to sell a 2% stake in the company via block deals worth ₹2,800 crore. The floor price of the block deal was fixed at ₹159.4 crore, which is at a discount of 4% compared to the previous closing price. Antfin Singapore Holding Pte Ltd held a 6.42% shares in the online food aggregator.

The scrip opened lower at ₹163.45, down 1.56%, as against the previous closing price of ₹166.05. At 9:54 am, the share price of the company was trading 4.37% lower at ₹158.80. This was in line with the broader BSE Sensex, which was down 81.60 points or 0.11% at 73,593.53. 

The market capitalisation of Zomato stood at ₹1,39,264.39 crore. The stock hit a 52-week high of ₹175.50 on March 4, 2024, whereas a 52-week low of ₹49 on March 28 last year.

In the past one month, three months and one year, the counter has given 13.12%, 33.39% and 193.92%, respectively, in returns. In the year-to-date period, the counter has given 27.39% in returns.

In the October to December quarter, the food tech major reported a consolidated net profit of ₹138 crore for the December quarter against a loss of ₹367 crore in the year-ago period, driven by topline growth, and gross order value (GOV) growth across Zomato food delivery and Blinkit. The company says it has led to improving margins also helped by ad monetisation and platform fees. The company's consolidated adjusted revenue grew 68.8% year-on-year to ₹3,288 crore against ₹1,948 crore in Q3 FY23.

The company's consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) for the quarter stood at ₹51crore against an EBITDA loss of ₹366 crore in the year-ago period, while the EBITDA margin for the quarter was recorded at 1.5%.

In January this year, the food aggregator received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its subsidiary Zomato Payments to operate as an online payment aggregator. The Deepinder Goyal-led food tech major is one of the preferred stocks in the listed internet space as analysts believe it is likely to benefit from robust industry tailwinds for the hyperlocal delivery businesses, while its diversified business model is another positive for the company. 

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