Paytm’s Quarterly Profit Hits Rs 225 Crore as Revenue Grows

Paytm reported a profit of Rs 225 crore in the September quarter, more than ten times its Rs 21 crore profit a year earlier. Revenue rose 28% to Rs 2,648 crore, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation reached Rs 270 crore, up 90%. Yet profit rose only 3% from the June quarter, and a much smaller one-off charge helped drive the year-on-year jump. ^1,3

The Rs 270 crore operating profit came as payment services revenue climbed 25% to Rs 1,434 crore and financial services distribution revenue rose 49% to Rs 912 crore. Paytm, the digital payments and financial services company run by One 97 Communications, also said monthly transacting users reached 8.5 crore, up one crore over the year. Its board approved another Rs 500 crore investment in Paytm Cloud Technologies, which plans to invest the same amount in its Singapore subsidiary. ^8,11

That base of 8.5 crore users matters because Paytm is trying to earn more from payments, lending referrals and merchant services, not just add customers. It gained consumer UPI payment market share for a sixth straight quarter, while merchant subscriptions reached 1.64 crore. AI-related software and cloud costs rose 59% to Rs 211 crore, but indirect costs fell to 46% of revenue from 52%. The company says AI savings and slower growth in platform costs are helping its profit margins. ^1,8

Those improving margins could get another lift from proposed fees on some UPI payments made to merchants. Paytm estimates the change could improve its payment processing margin by about 2.5 basis points, with the effect settling over two to three quarters. The change is expected after Diwali, while Paytm expects higher seasonal costs to weigh on its contribution margin in the October-to-December quarter. ^1,2