Paytm Q4 Results: Fintech giant’s consolidated net loss narrows sharply to ₹167.5 cr, revenue up over 51% YoY

Paytm had posted a loss of ₹392 crore in December 2022 quarter.

On the top line front, Paytm’s operating income was at ₹2,334.5 crore in Q4FY23, registering a growth of 51.5% from ₹1,540.9 crore in Q4FY22 and up 13.2% from ₹NOK 2,062.2 million.

Due to sustained improvement in contribution margin and operating leverage, Paytm achieved pre-ESOP EBITDA valued at ( ₹176 crore) and reported further improved EBITDA with ₹602 million years.

Furthermore, subscription services for payment devices, such as Soundbox and POS machines, witnessed a surge in usage, with 68 lakh merchants paying subscriptions for these devices as of March 2023, more than doubling from 29 lakh as of March 2022.

Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which stood at ₹3.62 lakh crore for Q4 FY 2023, up 40% YoY.

In addition, in Q4FY23, the number of merchant loans disbursed grew by 258% year-on-year for the last quarter, while the value of trade loans grew by 309% year-on-year to ₹2,313 crore as per the accounts of Paytm.

More than 85% of the value paid out this quarter was to merchants with a payment device provided by the fintech platform.

Paytm reported that the average ticket size for personal loans is currently approx ₹130,000 with an average term of 15 months.

For the whole of FY23, the company’s revenue growth was 61% year-on-year ₹7,990 crore driven by payments monetization and the growing scale of our loan distribution business.

The company’s coverage ratio improved from 30% in FY 2022 to 49% in FY 2023, due to improved payment profitability and growth in its high margin loan distribution business.

FY23 net loss reduced to ₹1,776.5 crore against ₹2,396.4 crore in FY22.

As it enters FY24, the company sees long-term potential for revenue growth and profitability across its payments and lending businesses.

In its statement, Paytm said, “The growth of UPI and other mobile payment methods presents a wealth of untapped opportunities. We are prepared to capitalize on these opportunities by bringing innovative products to our customers.”

Since the launch of the UPI Lite platform in February 2023, Paytm has already onboarded 55 lakh customers.

NPCI’s wallet interoperability guidelines are expected to allow Full KYC Paytm Wallet to be universally acceptable on all UPI QRs and online stores.

Paytm added, “We believe India has a potential of at least 10 crore merchants and more than 50 crore payment users in the near future. Considering this sheer scale of opportunity, and our ability to monetize our customer base, we will continue to invest in consumers market and expand sales team acquiring merchants. With the addition of nearly 9,000 members, our sales team now has more than 28,000 members, serving nearly 550 cities.”

The company has partnered with major NBFCs and banks and will continue to focus on the quality of loans distributed through our platform.

The company also aims to include 3-4 partners in FY24. It currently has 7 lending partners.