Paytm reports Rs 930 crore net profit after one-time gain, stock down over 4 pc

NEW DELHI: The shares of One 97 Communications Ltd (parent company of Paytm) slumped over 4 per cent on Tuesday after the fintech platform posted a net profit of Rs 930 crore in the July-September quarter (Q2) of FY25 (due to one-time gain), against a loss of Rs 292 crore in the year-ago period.

Paytm achieved profitability owing to a one-time exceptional gain of Rs 1,345 crore after selling its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato.

Without the one-time exceptional gain, the company clocked Rs 495 crore loss in Q2 -- a 70 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

The revenue jumped to Rs 1,660 crore (up 11 per cent on-quarter) on growth in payments and financial services distribution.

“We remain committed to reach EBITDA before ESOP profitability by Q4 FY 2025,” said the company.

The company said the continued focus on payments and distribution of financial services will drive sustained, profitable growth.

The revenue for payments business was Rs 981 crore, up 9 per cent QoQ and revenue from financial services was Rs 376 crore, up 34 per cent QoQ.

The new subscription paying device merchant sign ups exceeded January levels and the total merchant subscriptions stood at 1.12 crore.

“We plan to continue reactivating merchants and redeploying inactive devices to new merchants over the next 2-3 quarters. This will lead to higher active merchant base and higher revenue,” said the company.

Over the next quarters, key focus will include being a compliance-first company, continuing merchant payment innovations and driving customer acquisition, increasing high margin financial services revenue by expanding financial services partners, and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce costs.

Paytm will start with DLGs (default loss guarantees) on distribution of merchant loans. It has taken an approval from its Board for a partner providing DLG of Rs 225 crore over a period of time.