Paytm net loss widens to Rs 550 crore in Q4, FY24 loss narrows to Rs 1,422.4 crore

Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, on Wednesday said its loss in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24 has widened to Rs 550 crore following the ban imposed by the RBI on transactions related to its payments bank.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 167.5 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) from accepting deposits, credit transactions or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, and FASTags, keeping in view the interest of customers, including merchants from March 15 onwards.

The company during the reported quarter wrote off Rs 227 crore investment for a 39 per cent stake in PPBL following future uncertainties associated with the bank's business operations including the uncertainty of any other regulatory development etc.

Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds 51 per cent in PPBL.

The company for the first time posted operational profit before Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) cost for the full year.

The revenue from operations of Paytm declined by 2.8 per cent to Rs 2,267.1 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 2,464.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the financial year (FY) 2023.

Paytm said that there were temporary disruptions in operating metrics like Monthly Transacting Users (MTU), merchant base, and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) during February and March.

For the year ended March 31, 2024, the company's loss narrowed to Rs 1,422.4 crore. Paytm had recorded a loss of Rs 1,776.5 crore in FY23.

The annual revenue of Paytm increased by about 25 per cent to Rs 9,978 crore for FY24 from Rs 7,990.3 crore in FY23.

The company expects the full financial impact of disruption in the fourth quarter to be visible in the June 2025 quarter.

Paytm estimates its EBITDA before ESOP to be in the negative zone of Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore.