Paytm, on November 27, posted its results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Despite rising expenses, the Indian e-commerce payments system and financial technology company saw a 24 per cent sequential increase in losses and an 8.5 per cent annual increase.
According to Paytm, during the second quarter of the current fiscal, the company generated revenue from operations of INR 1,086 crore, up from INR 664 crores in the year-ago period, a 64 per cent increase. Based on a regulatory filing today by Paytm to the stock exchanges, the revenue increase was attributed to a 52 per cent rise in revenue from non-UPI gross merchandise value and a threefold increase in revenue from financial services and other sources.
As a result of non-UPI payments in payment gateways, the company’s revenue from payments to merchants rose 64 per cent to INR 400 crore. As a result of growth in non-UPI payments on the consumer platform, the company’s revenue from payment services to customers increased by 54 per cent to INR 353 crore.
The expansion of non-UPI GMV has led to continued revenue growth in payments, and we are scaling up our financial services offerings as a result of our UPI-led growth. Paytm said today in its statement that “we are on our way to pre-COVID volumes for commerce and cloud services.”
In the September quarter, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) lost INR 452.4 crore, compared with a loss of INR 445.6 crore a year earlier. As a result of monetizing a large distribution base through high margin offerings such as lending, advertisements, and commerce offerings, Paytm’s profit increased by 592 per cent year-over-year to INR 260 crores.
In India, Paytm’s INR 18,300 crore IPO was the largest in the country’s history up until now, breaking a record held by state-run Coal India almost a decade ago. Paytm’s debut on the stock market had opened at INR 1,950 on the NSE, declining 9.3% or INR 200 from its issue price of INR 2,150 on its market debut. Paytm’s shares plunged 28 per cent from its issue price to hit an intraday low of INR 1,560.
Paytm, the Indian e-commerce payment system and financial technology company based in Noida, India, offers online use-cases such as mobile recharges, utility bill payments, travel, movies, and events bookings, as well as in-store payments at grocery stores, fruits and vegetable shops, restaurants, parking lots, toll roads, pharmacies, and educational institutions.
After the ride-hailing company Uber Technologies listed Paytm as an Indian quick payment option in 2010, Paytm grew rapidly as a platform for mobile recharging. The use of digital payments swelled after demonetization – the banning of high-value currency notes in 2016 – boosted their use.
In November 2021, One97 Communications raised INR 18,300 crores (US$2.4 billion) through an initial public offering. The shares began trading on November 18, 2021, opening at INR 1,950 on the NSE, 9.3% below the upper end of the IPO price range.
