India’s Paytm Eyes Profitability by June as Losses Narrow Post ESOP Charge
Indian digital payments giant Paytm said Tuesday it expects to become profitable in the April-June quarter, following a sharp reduction in losses after adjusting for a one-time employee stock option (ESOP) charge.
Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma stated during the company’s post-earnings call that Paytm is “at the verge of PAT profitability” and is confident that the coming quarter could mark its first profitable period if current trends hold.
For the quarter ended March 31, Paytm reported a net loss of ₹5.4 billion ($64 million), wider than the previous quarter’s ₹2.08 billion loss. However, this included a one-time ESOP-related charge of ₹4.92 billion after Sharma gave up his stock options.
Excluding this charge, the company’s net loss narrowed to ₹230 million, signaling improving financial health.
Other highlights from the report:
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EBITDA excluding ESOP costs turned positive at ₹810 million, compared to a loss of ₹410 million in the previous quarter.
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Revenue from operations rose 4.6% sequentially to ₹19.12 billion.
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Financial services revenue (including lending) increased 9%.
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Payments services revenue grew by 4%.
Looking ahead, Paytm expects ESOP costs to decrease to ₹750 million–1 billion in the April-June quarter, down from ₹1.69 billion, contributing further to its path to profitability.
