Paytm Q1 Results: Loss Widens To Rs 840 Crore, Revenue Down 34%

One97 Communications Ltd., the owner and operator of payments firm Paytm, revenue fell and loss widened in the quarter ended June.

Paytm's net loss widened to Rs 840 crore in the first quarter from Rs 551 crore in the previous quarter, according to an exchange filing on Friday. Analysts polled by Bloomberg estimated a net loss of Rs 933.26 crore.

One97 Communications Q1FY25 Highlights (Consolidated, QoQ)

• Revenue down 34% to Rs 1,502 crore.

• Ebitda loss at Rs 792 crore versus and Ebitda loss of Rs 223 crore.

• Net loss at Rs 840 crore versus Rs 551 crore.

Owing to Reserve Bank of India's clampdown on the payments bank, Paytm saw financial impact in quarter ended March. However, back then, it said that the full impact of RBI's action would be seen in first quarter of the current fiscal.

Paytm's revenue from business fell 34% sequentially to Rs 1,502 crore. Here, the revenue from payments services stood at Rs 900 crore and those financial services stood at Rs 321 crore.

The net payment margin, however, stood at Rs 383 crore. This time, no UPI incentives were booked by the company.

The company expects its revenue and profitability to improve with improvement in gross merchandise value and expanding merchant base, it said in the earnings release.

The Ebitda loss for the quarter stood at Rs 792 crore, compared to Rs 223 crore in the previous quarter. The Ebitda loss before ESOP, however, stood at Rs 545 crore in the quarter ended June.

The company will be very sharp about cost optimisation, the company's spokesperson said in a post-results media briefing. The company in the previous quarter announced plans to save employee cost by around Rs 400-500 crore. In the earnings release, it said it has achieved a 9% reduction sequentially in employee costs.

Paytm's merchant subscriber base increased to 1.09 crore in the quarter ended June, compared to 1.07 crore in the previous one. While the company is focused on new sign ups, it is also ramping up efforts towards merchant re-activation.

In the earnings release, the company guided for merchant subscriber base addition to reach normalised run-rate by Q3FY25.

In terms of operational KPIs, the value of merchant loans and personal loans distributed stood flat quarter-on-quarter and stood at Rs 5,008 crore. Of this, the value of merchant loans stood at Rs 2,508 crore and personal loans at Rs 2,500 crore.

Paytm was expanding loan services by bringing in more lending partners, the spokesperson said. It was also expanding the secured product segment with offerings like loans against property, the person said.

For its popular offering Paytm wallet, the spokesperson told media that they would share an update when they have.