Paytm stock gains as gross merchandise value rises 40% in March quarter

Firms says it has hit a new milestone in offline payments with 6.8 million devices deployed

Financial services company Paytm said that the total merchant gross merchandise value (GMV) processed through its platform for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 had increased 40 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3.62 lakh crore ($44 billion). Paytm’s stock was up 1.18 per cent as the market opened for trading.

“Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential,” the company said in regulatory filing.

In its update on its business performance, the company also said that it had achieved a new milestone in offline payments with 6.8 million devices deployed, while consumer engagement was the highest on the Paytm Super App at 90 million average monthly transacting users.

Driving additional payment monetisation, Paytm’s subscription devices, Soundbox and point of sale (PoS) machines continue to see increased acceptance among merchants, it said. There are 6.8 million merchants who pay subscriptions for Paytm’s payment devices – an increase of 1 million in the quarter ended March 2023.

The company in its stock exchange filing said, “With our subscription as a service model, the strong adoption of devices drives subscription revenues and higher payment volumes, while increasing the funnel for our merchant loan distribution.”

The Paytm Super App, it said, continues to drive higher user engagement for the company’s comprehensive payment services. The average monthly transacting users (MTU) for the quarter stand at 90 million, registering a growth of 27 per cent y-o-y, it added. Paytm said it has also witnessed sustained growth in merchant payments volume.

Paytm’s loan distribution business, in partnership with financial institutions, too grew with total disbursements through its platform for the quarter increasing 253 per cent y-o-y to Rs 12,554 crore ($1,528 million).

The total number of loans disbursed surged 82 per cent y-o-y to 11.9 million in the quarter, with 4.1 million loans (63 per cent growth y-o-y) disbursed in March 2023 through the Paytm platform.

“Our payments consumer and merchant base offer a large addressable market, thereby providing a long runway for growth. We continue to work with our partners to remain focused on the quality of the book,” the company said.