AIRLINK 75.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-0.24%)
BOP 5.11 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.79%)
CNERGY 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-3.16%)
DFML 32.53 Increased By ▲ 2.43 (8.07%)
DGKC 90.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.14%)
FCCL 22.98 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.35%)
FFBL 33.57 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (1.88%)
FFL 10.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.1%)
GGL 11.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-2.56%)
HBL 114.90 Increased By ▲ 1.41 (1.24%)
HUBC 137.34 Increased By ▲ 0.83 (0.61%)
HUMNL 9.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-3.74%)
KEL 4.66 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 4.70 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.21%)
MLCF 40.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.56 (-1.36%)
OGDC 139.75 Increased By ▲ 4.95 (3.67%)
PAEL 27.65 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.14%)
PIAA 24.40 Decreased By ▼ -1.07 (-4.2%)
PIBTL 6.92 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PPL 125.30 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (0.68%)
PRL 27.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.55%)
PTC 14.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.35 (-2.41%)
SEARL 61.85 Increased By ▲ 1.65 (2.74%)
SNGP 72.98 Increased By ▲ 2.43 (3.44%)
SSGC 10.59 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.28%)
TELE 8.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.24%)
TPLP 11.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.42%)
TRG 66.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.06 (-1.57%)
UNITY 25.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.08%)
WTL 1.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-2.7%)
BR100 7,806 Increased By 81.8 (1.06%)
BR30 25,828 Increased By 227.1 (0.89%)
KSE100 74,531 Increased By 732.1 (0.99%)
KSE30 23,954 Increased By 330.7 (1.4%)

NEW DELHI: India has tightened scrutiny of IPO-bound firms by questioning how key internal business metrics are used to arrive at valuations, unsettling bankers and companies which fear delays in listing plans, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters.

India’s push comes after the flop listing of SoftBank-backed payments firm Paytm’s $2.5 billion IPO in November which sparked criticism of lax oversight of how loss-making companies price issues at what some say are lofty valuations.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last month flagged concerns in proposing stricter disclosures, saying more and more new-age tech firms which “generally remain loss making for a longer period” were filing for IPOs, and traditional financial disclosures “may not aid investors.”

But even before the proposal is finalised, SEBI has in recent weeks asked many companies to get their non-financial metrics — KPIs, or key performance indicators — audited, and then explain how they were used to arrive at an IPO’s valuation, five banking and legal sources said.

Typically for a tech or app-based startup, KPIs could be figures like the number of downloads or average time spent on a platform — metrics sources said are disclosed but difficult to audit or link to a company’s valuation.

SEBI is asking us to “justify the valuation,” said one Indian lawyer advising several companies eyeing IPOs, adding it was “creating uncertainty and increasing cost of compliance.”

SEBI did not respond to a request for comment.

Regulators in major markets including Hong Kong do follow practices that subject companies to tighter scrutiny about their business practices and financials, but they don’t usually make granular checks on valuation metrics.

One document from February containing SEBI’s remarks to an Indian IPO-bound company, seen by Reuters, asked for “explanation regarding how KPIs form basis” for arriving at the IPO issue price, adding they should be “certified by a statutory auditor.”

Indian digital healthcare platform PharmEasy, which had filed papers for a $818 million IPO in November, is one company which was hit by such scrutiny: one source with direct knowledge said the company raised concerns with SEBI about auditing and supplying such details, and is likely to get some relaxations. PharmEasy didn’t respond to a request for comment.

It is not clear if the additional information requested by SEBI would be released to potential investors.

Comments

Comments are closed.