Paytm operator One 97 Communications witnessed a 150% jump in loan volume for the October-November period from a year earlier. The company’s loan distribution business continued to witness an accelerated growth, said Paytm, adding that its loan disbursals came in at an annualised run rate of Rs 39,000 crore ($4.8 billion) in November. The Noida-based digital payments giant continued to witness accelerated growth with disbursements through its platform.
According to the company statement, the value of loans disbursed grew 374% on-year to Rs 6,292 crore ($774 million), while the number of loans disbursed grew 150% on-year to 6.8 million cumulative loans for the two months ended November 2022. “We see a significant growth runway given low current penetration, while we continue to work with our partners to remain focused on the quality of the book,” Paytm said. The business update comes just days after the company announced that the board is considering share buyback.
The total merchant GMV processed through Paytm for the two months ended November 2022 aggregated to Rs 2.28 lakh crore ($28 billion), marking a 37% on-year growth. In the filing, the company stated that their focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for them, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential.
Paytm added 3.9 million subscribers on-year for the merchant payment devices in November. The company boasts of over 5.5 million merchants now paying subscription for payment devices. “With our subscription as a service model, the strong adoption of devices drives higher payment volumes and subscription revenues, while increasing the funnel for our merchant loan distribution,” it said. Paytm also saw robust growth in monthly transacting users (MTU). The Paytm Super App saw growing consumer engagement with the average MTU for the two months ended November at 84 million, registering a growth of 33% on-year.
It is worth mentioning that Paytm’s board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, 13 December to consider a share buyback proposal. “The management believes that given the company’s prevailing liquidity/ financial position, a buyback may be beneficial for our shareholders,” it had stated in an exchange filing on Thursday. Paytm shares were trading nearly 1% lower on Monday at Rs 539 on NSE. After a much-watched listing late last year, Paytm share price has tumbled around 70% from its issue price. The stock is down 60% so far this year amid a global tech selloff, and questions around the firm’s profitability, competition, and costs related to marketing and employee stock options.
