Paytm narrows loss to Rs.167.5 cr in Jan-Mar of FY23

New Delhi: Digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Friday posted a narrowing of consolidated loss to Rs 167.5 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 762.5 crore in the same period of the last year.

The consolidated revenue from operations of the company grew 51.5 per cent to Rs 2,334.5 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,540.9 crore in the March quarter of FY22.

For the year ended March 31, 2023, One97 Communications reported narrowing of loss to Rs 1,776.5 crore from Rs 2,396.4 crore in the previous fiscal.

The revenue from operations of the company grew by about 60 per cent to Rs 7,990.3 crore in FY23 from Rs 4,974.2 crore in FY22.

"Our 61 per cent YoY revenue growth for FY2023 was driven by payments monetisation and growing scale of our loan distribution business," the company said in a statement.

The company said that during the second half of this year, it achieved operational profitability (EBITDA before ESOP) and added "we believe we can continue our growth momentum and improve our profitability further".

"We have made significant investments towards sales manpower, improvement of technology platform, marketing spends etc., which will help us carry this momentum," the company said.

It said that the 51 per cent YoY revenue growth in Q4FY23, was driven by increase in GMV, higher merchant subscription revenues, and growth of loans distributed through its platform.

"As we step into the new fiscal year of 2024, we are excited by the long-term potential for revenue growth and profitability across payment and lending businesses. The growth of UPI and other mobile payment methods presents a wealth of untapped opportunities," it said.

The company said it is prepared to capitalise on these opportunities by bringing innovative products to its customers.

"Since the launch of our UPI Lite platform February 2023, we have already onboarded 55 lakh customers. NPCI's wallet interoperability guidelines will allow Full KYC Paytm Wallet to be universally acceptable on all UPI QRs and online merchants," it said.

The company said it believes India has potential of at least 10 crore merchants and more than 50 crore payment users in the near future.

"Considering this large scale of opportunity, and our ability to monetise our customer base, we will continue to invest in consumer marketing and expand merchant acquiring sales teams," it said.

The company asserted that its payment business continues to scale led by increase in GMV, and higher subscription revenue.

"In Q4 FY 2023, payments revenue grew by 41% YoY to Rs 1,467 crore. Including current quarter's UPI incentive only, payment revenue grew 28 per cent YoY," it added.