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Vijay Shekhar Sharma reappointed as MD and CEO of Paytm | Mint – Mint

Vijay Shekhar Sharma has been reappointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of financial services platform Paytm. According to news agency PTI, 99.67% of shareholders voted in favour of him.

“Thank you to our shareholders for a heartening response to our first AGM as a listed company. With overwhelming support, our MD & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma will continue to lead and guide us. All resolutions from our 22nd AGM have been duly passed.”, the company posted on Twitter.

The decision was taken during the 22nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of One97 Communications Limited (OCL) which owns the brand Paytm, India’s leading digital payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and mobile payments. This was the first AGM as a public listed company.

The company’s shareholders have voted with a 99.67 per cent majority in favour of Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s reappointment as the Managing Director for five more years, designated as “Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer” of the company.

“The resounding votes of almost 100 per cent in favour of his reappointment reflects investors’ faith in the company’s leadership and also shows that they remain confident about the company’s growth and profitability target,” an official statment said.

The billionaire founder of Paytm faced a crucial test of investor confidence, when shareholders had to decide whether they want him at the helm of a fintech pioneer that made one of the worst debuts in Indian history.

Earlier in May 2022, OCL’s Board of Directors approved the reappointment of Sharma as Managing Director.

Paytm, the poster boy for India’s tech startups, has lost more than 60% of its value since its high-profile initial public offering in November as it has struggled to convince investors of its earnings potential. In an interview last month, Sharma, 44, said Paytm is set to become India’s first internet company to hit $1 billion in annual revenue and pledged a shift from growth toward profitability.

SEBI, in February 2022, had made it voluntary for India Inc to have a separate Chairperson and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

In most Nifty 50 companies, the Managing Director is appointed on a non-rotational basis.

The resolution for Sharma’s remuneration received 94.48 per cent of votes in favour. His remuneration is fixed for the next three years without any annual increment, unlike the policy/practice applicable to all other employees of the company.

Furthermore, in his letter to shareholders dated 6 April 2022, Sharma informed the public that his employee stock ownership plan (ESOPs) will vest only when the market cap crosses the Initial public offering (IPO) level on a sustained basis.

The ESOPs were already approved by the shareholders in compliance with applicable laws and with all necessary approvals, before the IPO was looked at, the company said in a statement.

During the AGM, the shareholders also duly passed the resolutions for reappointment of Ravi Chandra Adusumalli to the Board, the appointment of Madhur Deora as whole-time Director designated as Executive Director, President and Group Chief Financial Officer of the company along with his remuneration, and approval of contribution to Charitable and other Funds and the receipt, consideration and adoption of the Audited Standalone and Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

Deora’s appointment received 99.82% votes in favour, while the resolution for his remuneration received 94.53% votes in favour.

Deora joined the company in 2016 and has played a vital role in getting marquee investors on board and shaping the company’s growth plans.

In a letter to shareholders dated April 6, 2022, Sharma, encouraged by the company’s business momentum, the scale of monetization and operating leverage, said Paytm should be operating EBITDA breakeven in the next 6 quarters (i.e. EBITDA before ESOP cost, and by the quarter ending September 2023)

(With inputs from ANI)

 

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