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Reuters
Published
Feb 4, 2023
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Paytm's quarterly revenue up 42%, posts surprise operating profit

By
Reuters
Published
Feb 4, 2023

Indian fintech company Paytm reported a 41.6% rise in third-quarter revenue on Friday, helped by soaring loan growth, and said it achieved operating profitability three quarters ahead of guidance.


Paytm's quarterly revenue up 42%, posts surprise operating profit - Reuters


Paytm's parent, One 97 Communications Ltd, said revenue rose to 20.62 billion rupees in the October-December quarter from 14.56 billion rupees a year earlier.

The company posted its first-ever core profit before cost of employee stock-owning plans, or operating profit, of 310 million rupees compared with a core loss of 3.93 billion rupees a year earlier.

However, it continued to post a consolidated net loss that nearly halved to 3.92 billion rupees from a loss of 7.78 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing.

The company's fast-growing financial services business — primarily buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), personal and merchant loans — accounted for 21.6% of the total revenue, more than trebling to 4.46 billion rupees from a year earlier.

Loan disbursement surged to 99.58 billion rupees, led by a four-fold jump in BNPL loans.

Revenue at Paytm's core payments services business - consumers and merchants using its eponymous app and merchants' device subscriptions - rose 43.2% to 15.99 billion rupees, accounting for 77.5% of the total.

The company's net payments margin, or payments revenue excluding processing costs, more than doubled to 4.59 billion rupees from a year earlier.

The SoftBank-backed firm has previously said it was aiming to turn profitable and become free cash flow positive in 2023. Operating profit margin improved to 1.5% from negative 27% from a year earlier.

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