PB Fintech Turns Profitable In Q3; Posts PAT Of INR 37 Cr

PB Fintech, the parent company of insurtech platform Policybazaar, turned profitable in the December quarter (Q3) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The company reported a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 37.2 Cr during the quarter under review, helped by a sharp growth in its insurance broking business and decline in costs.

The fintech major had reported a loss of INR 21.1 Cr in the preceding September quarter, while its loss stood at INR 87.6 Cr in Q3 FY23.

PB Fintech’s total operating revenue jumped 43% to INR 871 Cr in the reported quarter from INR 610 Cr in Q3 FY23. However, this was a marginal rise on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis from INR 812 Cr in Q2 FY24.

Revenue of its core online business, which includes Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, grew 39% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 593 Cr in Q3 FY24. This vertical’s contribution margin also improved to 44% in the quarter.

On the other hand, the revenue of the new initiatives business jumped 50% YoY to INR 278 Cr in the reported quarter. PB Fintech also said that its new initiatives vertical reached break-even on a contribution margin basis in Q3 FY24. 

In the reported quarter, Policybazaar’s total insurance premium stood at INR 4,261 Cr and its annual run rate (ARR) for insurance premium stood at INR 17,000 Cr. 

“Our consistent efforts to improve customer service and claims support are paying off with multiple heartening customer appreciations and continue to be reflected by a CSAT (customer satisfaction score) of 88% for Q3 FY24,” said the company in its statement.

Besides, high disclosure rates and fraud detection are helping Policybazaar improve claims settlement ratios for its partners, it said.

Policybazaar’s registered customers also increased to 74.7 Mn by the end of December 31, 2023 while total transacting customers grew to 15.7 Mn.

Meanwhile, PB Fintech’s lending arm Paisabazaar’s credit disbursal ARR stood at INR 14,000 Cr and credit card issuance ARR was at about 5.6 Lakh.

“Digitisation is becoming significant in lending – currently led by credit cards where over 75% of cards issued in Q3 FY24 were through end-to-end (E2E) digital processes. As digitisation expands across the industry, platforms like ours would continue to benefit,” said PB Fintech.

Paisabazaar’s total transacting customers stood at 4.8 Mn by December end.

PB Fintech said that it is strengthening its leadership in the new initiatives business, which includes seller aggregator platform PB Partners and the UAE business. While PB Partners continues to lead the market, covering over 90% of pin codes in India, its UAE insurance premium has grown 2.4X YoY, the company claimed.

Zooming Into Expenses

PB Fintech’s total expenses declined marginally to INR 925.9 Cr in Q3 FY24 from INR 930.2 Cr in the prior quarter, as the company slashed its employee costs and ad expenses.

However, the fintech major’s expenses increased almost 21% YoY from INR 766.4 Cr posted in Q3 FY23.

Employee Cost: PB Fintech’s employee benefit expenses declined 6% QoQ to INR 397.7 Cr in Q3 FY24. However, it was 11.5% higher compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Ad Cost: The company also managed to slash its advertising and promotion expenses by over 13% sequentially to INR 214.8 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Shares of PB Fintech ended Tuesday’s (January 30) trading session 1.1% higher at INR 911.6 on the BSE.

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