Fino Payments Bank Emerges Biggest Loser In Bearish Week For New-Age Tech Stocks

After showing some signs of revival in the previous week, the bears extended their grip on the Indian equities market this week amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. In line with this, new-age tech stocks saw renewed selling pressure.

Forty one out of the 55 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.2% to close to 16% this week, while 14 stocks registered gains in a range of 0.34% to over 5%. 

Fino Payments Bank, which has been under pressure since the arrest of its MD and CEO Rishi Gupta in a GST evasion case, emerged as the biggest loser this week. The stock tanked 15.81% to end at ₹127. 

BlueStone, EaseMyTrip, Yatra, ideaforge, Paytm, Lenskart, Fractal, and Shadowfax were among the other losers this week. 

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the 55 new-age tech companies declined to $116.31 Bn at the end of the week from $119.46 Bn a week ago.

Macobs Technologies, parent of NSE Emerge-listed D2C brand Menhood, was the biggest gainer this week, rising 5.19% to end the week at ₹212. Eternal, ixigo, CarTrade, and Nazara Technologies were amongst the other gainers this week. 

In the list of gainers, Ather Energy’s shares touched a fresh 52-week high of ₹802.55 yesterday, before ending the week 1.69% higher at ₹796.45.

Meanwhile, 11 new-age tech stocks – Nazara, Swiggy, Amagi, MapmyIndia, Unicommerce, Veefin, IndiQube, DevX, Tracxn, Wakefit, Fino Payments Bank – touched fresh lows this week. 

With that, here’s a look at some of the developments at new-age tech companies this week: 

• The CCI cleared State Street Global Advisors’ ₹580 Cr investment in Groww AMC to acquire a 23% stake in the latter. 
• Aye Finance founder Sanjay Sharma bought 1 Lakh equity shares of the company via open market transactions between March 23 and 25.  
• Nazara was allotted 9.91 Lakh bonus equity shares of its wholly owned subsidiary Paper Boat Apps Pvt Ltd in a 93:1 ratio (93 bonus shares for every one share held). 
• Pine Labs said it is shutting its wholly owned subsidiary Mopay Services Pvt Ltd. The strike-off may take 2 to 3 months, subject to approval from authorities.
• The Income Tax Department has reduced the tax demand on FirstCry for FY23 to ₹38.37 Lakh from ₹31.36 Cr after issuing a rectification order. The company added that it will file an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) against the revised demand.
• Paytm said its step-down subsidiary First Games Technology received a ₹142 Cr loan waiver from shareholder AGTech Media Holdings, including accrued interest. Paytm said that the investment and shareholder loan had already been fully impaired after First Games exited real-money gaming.
• BlackBuck’s chief product officer Manish Singh tendered his resignation after a more than seven-year stint. Singh, who will continue to be with the company till March 31, resigned citing personal reasons and plans to pursue other interests.

With that, let’s take a look at the broader market this week. 

West Asia Conflict Continues To Weigh On Indian Market

Indian equities market ended the week lower amid the volatility triggered by escalating conflict in West Asia. Early losses driven by fears of energy supply disruptions, a weakening rupee nearing 95 per dollar, and risk-off sentiment were briefly offset by a mid-week rebound on hopes of de-escalation, before fresh selling yesterday wiped out the gains.

While the Sensex declined 1.33% to end at 73,583.22, Nifty 50 fell 1.28% to end at 22,819.60.

The conflict in West Asia has led to increased concerns over energy supply disruptions, with reports indicating significant damage to energy infrastructure across the region. Although a temporary pause in hostilities and ongoing diplomatic engagements offered brief relief, uncertainty persisted and continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

“Currency weakness further compounded concerns, with the rupee nearing the 95/USD mark. Crude oil prices remained volatile, rebounding toward the $105 level after correcting to around $93, thereby sustaining inflationary concerns,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP of research at Religare Broking.

Now, let’s take a look at the performance of Fino and foodtech majors Eternal and Swiggy this week.

Fino Continues To Slide

Shares of Fino remained under pressure this week as developments around the GST investigation involving its CEO Rishi Gupta continued to unfold, adding to investor uncertainty.

Gupta was arrested by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) last month in connection with an investigation into alleged ₹840 Cr GST evasion linked to illegal online betting platforms. 

The agency has alleged that Gupta was part of a syndicate that routed funds from such platforms through shell entities and programme managers. Fino, however, has maintained that the investigation relates to programme managers across banks and is not linked to the payments bank’s own GST compliance.

Earlier this week, the Telangana High Court dismissed Gupta’s writ petition seeking bail, but a special court in Hyderabad later granted him bail. Following this, the payments bank said it has deferred seeking shareholders’ approval for Gupta’s reappointment as MD and CEO for a three-year term starting May 2026. 

The board said it will revisit the proposal later after reassessing Gupta’s “fit and proper” status and taking the RBI’s view.

Following Gupta’s arrest, CFO Ketan Merchant was appointed interim CEO.

The developments have weighed heavily on the stock, which has fallen about 40% since Gupta’s arrest.

Zomato, Swiggy Hike Platform Fee 

Shares of Zomato parent Eternal and its competitor Swiggy moved in opposite directions this week as investors continued to weigh the companies’ evolving monetisation strategy in food delivery and their investments in quick commerce.

While shares of Swiggy plunged 5.16% to ₹268.1, Eternal gained 0.64% to end at ₹233.1. 

Swiggy increased its platform fee by about 17% to ₹17.58 (including taxes) per order earlier this week, just days after Zomato raised platform fee to ₹14.90 per order.

The near-simultaneous moves once again highlighted a pattern that has emerged since platform fees were introduced in 2023, with both companies often raising charges within days of each other. 

Starting with ₹2, platform fee has increased over the years and has become an important revenue lever for the two food delivery giants. In FY25, Eternal reported ₹327 Cr in platform fee revenue from food delivery, while Swiggy generated about ₹222 Cr. 

The hike came at a time when both the companies are pouring capital into quick commerce, where competition remains intense. While Eternal’s Blinkit is showing early signs of profitability, Swiggy’s Instamart continues to be loss making.

Edited by Vinaykumar Rai

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