Shares of PB Fintech, the parent company of insurtech unicorn Policybazaar crashed more than 13% after CEO Yashish Dahiya opted to sell 37,69,471 equity shares.
The company’s shares opened at INR 631.50, more than 4% lower than the previous day’s close of INR 658.75. Shortly thereafter, PB Fintech saw its shares dip to as low as INR 563.70 at noon on June 7.
PB Fintech, in a BSE filing, notified Dahiya’s intent to sell the shares yesterday (June 6) at 9:51 PM, which prompted the share price crash as soon as the trading began on the stock market. According to the company, Dahiya is selling the shares to cover current and future taxes on capital gains on his stake in the company.
According to PB Fintech’s filings with BSE, Dahiya held a 3.84% stake in the insurtech unicorn, or 1,72,38,878 equity shares after its INR 5,625 Cr IPO in November 2021.
Out of these, 1,06,57,500 were ESOPs options vested and due for exercise immediately after the IPO. Out of the total ESOPs, he has already exercised 1,05,09,601 shares during February 2022 and May 2022, with the rest to be exercised within the next few days.
Yashish Dahiya’s shareholding in PB Fintech has actually increased over time, and is set to increase in the future as well. In October 2021, Dahiya got a stock award worth 71,96,604 stock options, that are exercisable a year after the award over a period of five years. The company noted that he exercised 55,09,601 ESOPs in May 2022.
By October 2022, the PB Fintech CEO will hold 5.98% of the company, company filings show.
The Policybazaar parent reported a 454% increase in its net loss in FY22, reaching INR 832.91 Cr, up from INR 150.24 Cr in FY21. On the flipside, it reported a 60% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue from operations, reaching INR 1,424.89 Cr.
The listed startup’s total income reached INR 1,550.27 Cr in FY22, up 62% from INR 957.41 Cr in FY21.
Policybazaar competes with fellow insurtech unicorns Digit Insurance and Acko, along with soonicorns such as Turtlemint.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, India is the second-largest insurtech market in Asia-Pacific. According to an Inc42 report, insurtech will have a market size of $339 Bn by 2025, comprising 26% of the $1.3 Tn fintech opportunity in India. The sub sector is also the fastest growing within the fintech industry, growing at a 57% CAGR.
