One 97 Communications Ltd, the owner of fintech major Paytm, on Friday reported its net loss narrowed to Rs 357 crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2023. It reported net loss of Rs 644 crore in the year-ago period.
Paytm’s revenue from operations rose 39% to Rs 2,342 crore in Q1FY24 as compared to Rs 1,680 crore in Q1FY23.
On Friday, Paytm’s scrip on BSE closed nearly 1% lower at Rs 843.55.
“Led by payments and loan distribution business growth, our revenue jumped 39% YoY to Rs 2,342 crore and EBITDA before ESOP grew to Rs 84 crore. We continue to see consistent growth in profitability, with contribution margin expanding to 56% of revenues,” said Paytm in its earnings announcement.
The company’s merchant payments volumes (GMV) grew 37% YoY at Rs 4.05 lakh crore in June quarter. Its merchant base has expanded to 3.6 crore, thanks to digital payment becoming mainstream and as demand for products like Soundbox and POS machines increase. Its merchant subscriber base has more than doubled to 79 lakh as of June 2023. The company believes that India could have potential of 10 crore merchants accepting digital payments. “Considering this large scale of opportunity, and our ability to monetise them, we continue to invest in expanding our merchant acquiring sales teams with an addition of nearly 10,000 members over last year,” said Paytm in Q1FY24 earnings release.
Meanwhile, its financial services revenue surged 93% YoY to Rs 522 crore in Q1FY24 on the back of growing credit business. In Q1FY24, Paytm distributed 1.28 crore loans, an increase of 51% YoY with value of loans up significantly by 167% on year to Rs 14,845 crore driven by strong product offerings across segments — Paytm Postpaid, Personal Loans, and Merchant Loans. Also, the total number of unique borrowers who have taken loan through the platform has increased by 49 lakh over the last year to 1.06 crore. Besides, the company continues to monetise Paytm app traffic in its Commerce and Cloud segment by providing marketing services to its merchants. In Q1FY24, Paytm’s Commerce & Cloud revenue grew by 22% YoY to Rs 405 crore.
