Paytm Q4 Loss Flat YoY At INR 545 Cr As Exceptional Items Take Toll

Fintech major Paytm reported a consolidated net loss of INR 544.6 Cr in the March quarter (Q4 FY25), a decline of 1% from INR 550.5 Cr loss it incurred in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, the company’s loss grew 118% from INR 208.5 Cr. 

If not for INR 522.1 Cr exceptional loss incurred by the company during the quarter, Paytm would have reported a loss before tax of INR 19.9 Cr as against INR 536.4 Cr loss in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, Paytm’s operating revenue for the quarter under review dipped 19% YoY to INR 1,911.5 Cr from INR 2,267.1 Cr in Q4 FY24. Sequentially, this marked a 5% increase from INR 1,827.8 Cr operating revenue. 

Including other income of INR 223.8 Cr, Paytm’s total revenue for the quarter stood at INR 2,135.3 Cr. 

For the full fiscal year FY25, Paytm’s operating revenue stood at INR 6,900.4 Cr. This marked a 31% decline from INR 9,977.8 Cr operating revenue it registered in FY24. The company also managed to reduce its loss by 54% to INR 663.2 Cr in FY25 from INR 1,422.4 Cr in the previous year.

On the dip in revenue on a sequential basis, Paytm said that the seasonality effect impacted its payments services revenue.

The company received a UPI incentive of INR 70 Cr for FY25, which was lower than the incentive of INR 88 Cr in FY24. 

Notably, the Union cabinet announced an incentive of INR 1,500 Cr for UPI P2M transactions of up to INR 2,000 for FY25. This was a decline of nearly 60% from INR 3,500 Cr allocated for these transactions in FY24.

“The industry expects MDR on UPI for large merchants to be allowed in the near future, which will result in incremental monetisation opportunities. We will update our payment processing margin guidance once we have clarity on MDR on UPI,” Paytm said in its earnings release.

Excluding UPI incentive, Paytm said that its contribution profit was up 4% QoQ at INR 1,001 Cr with contribution margin of 54%, aided by higher share of financial services revenue. The company’s revenue from this vertical increased 9% QoQ to INR 545 Cr. 

Gross merchandise value (GMV) for the quarter stood at INR 5.1 Lakh Cr. In Q4 FY25, average monthly transacting users (MTUs) increased to 7.2 Cr as compared to 7 Cr in the previous quarter. The merchant subscriber base for Paytm’s payment devices expanded by 8 Lakh during the quarter, reaching a total of 1.24 Cr.

Paytm Close To Profitability 

In the release, the company said that it posted a net loss of INR 23 Cr without the exceptional items. 

Here’s a breakdown of the exceptional items:

Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s ESOPs: The exceptional items loss in Q4 FY25 originated from INR 492.4 Cr non-cash accelerated charge due to Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma surrendering 2.1 Cr ESOPs following a SEBI show-cause notice. The move came after Paytm decided to file a settlement application with the markets regulator.

These ESOPs, which were worth INR 4,092.1 Cr, were transferred from ESOP reserve to retained earnings of the Company.

Meanwhile, starting Q1 FY26, Paytm said that its ESOP cost will be substantially lower in the range of INR 75-100 Cr as against INR 169 Cr in Q4 FY 2025.

Paytm-Zomato Deal: The company reported an exceptional item cost of INR 16.9 Cr on sale of its entertainment business to Zomato (now Eternal) in August last year.

Impairment Of Goodwill: The company recognised an impairment of goodwill of INR 6.8 Cr for its subsidiary Mobiquest Mobile Tech, INR 3.3 Cr for subsidiary Urja Money, and an impairment provision of INR 19.6 Cr of optionally convertible debentures issued by Admirable Software.

Paytm said its EBITDA before ESOP stood at INR 81 Cr in Q4 FY25, including UPI incentive, marking an improvement of INR 121 Cr from last quarter. 

Shares of the company ended today’s trading session down 5.90% at INR 815.30.