Nazara Technologies' shares tank 23 pc in two days over online gaming bill

Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS) Shares of Nazara Technologies Limited, India’s only listed online gaming company, continued to slide for the second day in a row on Thursday, tumbling another 11.19 per cent to touch an intra-day low of Rs 1,085 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

With this, the stock has lost over 22 per cent in just two trading sessions.

The sharp fall comes after the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which seeks to ban all pay-to-play online games, whether based on skill or chance.

Nazara Technologies, however, has said the bill will not materially impact its overall financial performance in terms of revenue or EBITDA.

The company clarified that its major businesses -- including gamified early learning, publishing, and gaming arcades -- will remain unaffected.

The company did acknowledge its exposure to the real-money gaming segment through its stake in Moonshine, which operates PokerBaazi.

In a filing, Nazara said that its investment of over Rs 800 crore in PokerBaazi could face a potential write-off if the proposed law goes ahead.

Brokerage house ICICI Securities also cut its rating on Nazara, reducing its target price from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,100 per share.

The firm said it has now assigned zero value to Moonshine in its calculations, given the regulatory uncertainty.

Nazara’s Joint MD and CEO Nitish Mittersain told CNBC-TV18 that the company holds about 46 per cent in PokerBaazi but added that the situation is still speculative.

“If there is indeed a move to ban online real-money gaming, then that particular investment could be at risk,” he said.

He added that it was too early to estimate the size of any write-off but noted that the business’s core platform remained strong and could create opportunities in other markets.

--IANS

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