Paytm Q3 results: Losses narrow to Rs 221.7 crore

Fintech company One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Friday reported narrowing of losses to Rs 221.7 crore for the October-December quarter, according to a filing.

The losses stood at Rs 392.1 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue from operations jumped over 38 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,850.5 crore in the third quarter of FY2023-24.

In a statement, Paytm said its Q3 performance was marked by "significant growth in subscription revenue, improved margins, and increased payment business revenue".

Paytm's board also approved its Rs 100 crore investment in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to establish a global financial ecosystem.

"Leveraging its success in real-time payments, Paytm aims to streamline cross-border remittances with efficient, AI-powered solutions. Additionally, Paytm will invest in setting up a development centre in GIFT City to create a technology backbone for these solutions" the release added.

On the Q3 report card, the company said the number of merchants subscribing to Paytm's payment devices reached 1.06 crore as of December 2023, marking on year increase of 49 lakh.

The payments business exhibited significant growth, with revenue escalating by 45 per cent YoY to Rs 1,730 crore, and the net payment margin witnessing a 63 per cent YoY increase to Rs 748 crore. Merchant payments volume (GMV) grew by 47 per cent YoY, reaching Rs 5.10 lakh crore.

"Revenue from financial services and other segments climbed by 36 per cent YoY to Rs 607 crore, driven by personal loans, merchant loans distribution, and increased revenue from the insurance broking business," the release said.

Paytm said it will emphasise the introduction of new use cases, including Credit on UPI and Autopay, to stimulate monetisable incremental customer acquisition.

"In the financial services segment, there is an emphasis on broadening high-ticket loans by pursuing new lending partners. Simultaneously, the company is extending its offerings in embedded insurance and merchant insurance, and actively cross-selling equity trading to the Paytm consumer base," it said.

In the December quarter, Paytm disbursed loans worth Rs 15,535 crore, an increase of 56 per cent. "The total number of unique users availing loans through the Paytm platform increased by 44 lakh over the past year, reaching 1.25 crore," the company said.