Paytm, India’s leading digital payments brand, posted a wider second-quarter loss after it spent more to grow its business.
(Bloomberg) — Paytm, India’s leading digital payments brand, posted a wider second-quarter loss after it spent more to grow its business.
The net loss in the July-September period swelled to 5.71 billion rupees ($69.7 million) from 4.73 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said on Monday. Revenue rose 76% to 19.14 billion rupees, while total costs increased 60% to 25.61 billion rupees.
The company is expanding its product offering and signing up more users in a bid to convince investors of its earnings potential. Its shares have slumped about 70% since its high-profile $2.5 billion IPO a year ago over concerns of mounting losses and intensifying competition from Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay, Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Pay and Walmart Inc.’s PhonePe, and a slew of smaller fintech startups.
Paytm, backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and China’s Ant Group Co., reiterated that it expects to reach operating profitability by the quarter ending September 2023 amid continued revenue growth. In a July interview, founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma pledged a shift in focus from growth toward profitability.
The stock price has been volatile in the past weeks as a one-year lock-in for certain shareholders expires on Nov. 15, allowing them to sell shares in blocks.
The company said its loan-distribution business continued to grow at a rapid clip, adding 9.2 million loans during the quarter. The value of loans grew 482% from a year earlier to 7.31 billion rupees.
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