BackPaytm reports 4 times growth in loan distribution business in January
Paytm said that over the last few quarters it has been focusing on payment volumes that generate profitability, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential.
PremiumMumbai: Digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Wednesday said its loan distribution business grew more than four times year-on-year in January, with ₹3,928 crore ($480 million) worth of loans disbursed last month.
In December, value of loans disbursed stood at ₹3,665 crore ($443 million). The finch company disbursed about 3.9 million loans last month, more than double the number it disbursed in January 2022, it said in a filing to stock exchanges.
Paytm provides loans to its customers and merchant partners in partnerships with non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) such as Clix Capital, Aditya Birla Finance, Piramal Finance, Fullerton India and Hero FinCorp. It earns a commission based on the loans it issues to Paytm postpaid users and merchants.
The firm, led by its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has been trying to minimise cash burn and achieve profitability.
Among India’s biggest payments firms, shares of Paytm, which turned operationally profitable (on the basis of adjusted Ebitda) last quarter, have gained about 28% in the last five days.
The Noida-based firm said it has expanded its user base reporting 89 million average monthly transacting users at the end of the month, up about 29% on year. The number has grown from 85 million at the end of December 2022.
It added another 0.3 million merchants for its payment devices subscription, taking the total to 6.1 million users. The fintech firm provides these devices or soundboxes to its merchant partners on a subscription basis. This business, while deriving subscription revenues and higher payment volumes, acts as a funnel for the company’s loan distribution business.
Gross merchandise volume processed by merchants on its platform grew by 44% on a year-on-year basis to ₹1.2 trillion ($15 billion) in January.
Paytm said that over the last few quarters it has been focusing on payment volumes that generate profitability, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential.
It reported an Ebitda without accounting for employee-stock option costs, of ₹31 crore over a revenue of operations of ₹2,062 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2023, up 42% on year. Consolidated loss widened to ₹392.1 crore in the December quarter, compared to ₹778.5 crore in the quarter before.
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