PB Fintech Top Brass Executive: Dahiya and Bansal Sell 1.86% Stake in Block Deals

On 17 May, PB Fintech's Chairman Yashish Dahiya and Vice Chairman Alok Bansal sold a total of 83.7 lakh shares through two block deals. This sale represents a 1.86% stake in the company. Dahiya sold 54 lakh shares, while Bansal offloaded 29.70 lakh shares. Post sale, Dahiya's holding in PB Fintech will reduce to 4.83% and Bansal's to 1.63%.

Following the block trades, PB Fintech share price fell 1.4% trading at ₹1,319.50 on the NSE. The block trade has triggered a 365 day lock in period preventing the executives from selling additional shares within this timeframe.

The company stated that a portion of the proceeds from this sale will be used to cover taxes for both current and future Employee Stock Option Plans or ESOPs. These tax obligations include payments upon exercising ESOPs and capital gains tax from the sale of shares.

Historical Context and Recent Developments

In June 2022, Dahiya sold a 0.84 percent stake in PB Fintech at an average price of ₹610.24 per share. The recent stake sale occurs as the stock has been included in the MSCI Global Standard Index expected to bring passive inflows of up to $283 million. Year to date, PB Fintech's stock has surged 67% outperforming the Nifty 50 index which has risen by 3%.

On February 1 earlier this year Temasek Holdings a major investment firm from Singapore divested its entire 5.42% stake in PB Fintech fetching ₹2,425 crore.

Company Performance

PB Fintech reported a strong performance for the quarter ending March 31, 2024. The company posted a consolidated net profit of ₹60.19 crore a turnaround from the ₹9.34 crore loss in the same period last year. Consolidated revenue rose by 25.4% to ₹1,089.57 crore from ₹869.10 crore the previous year. 

The insurance segment continues to drive growth with total insurance premiums for the quarter amounting to ₹5,127 crore contributing to an annual recurring revenue or ARR of ₹20,000 crore. The growth is primarily due to the expansion of new health and life insurance segments.

Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, PB Fintech's core online marketplaces also showed strong performance. Revenue for FY2024 increased by 39% to ₹2,375 crore and adjusted EBITDA improved to ₹324 crore yoy

Company Background

PB Fintech the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar offers integrated online marketing, IT consulting and support services mainly for the financial services industry focusing on insurance. PolicyBazaar is India's largest digital insurance marketplace while PaisaBazaar simplifies access to lending products. PB Fintech had al stock market debut on November 15, 2021 listing at a 22.7% premium with shares trading at ₹1,202 compared to the issue price of ₹980.