Paytm on track to achieve operating profitability in 2023: Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that India is in the midst of a technology revolution and the effect is visible – consumers and merchants’ demand for digital financial services is growing.
- Jul 29, 2022,
- Updated Jul 29, 2022 10:14 AM IST
Paytm-founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the company is witnessing “excellent momentum” in its businesses and is on track to achieve operating profitability in 2023. The company, on Thursday, released its first annual report for FY2021-22 as a publicly-listed company. The company, Sharma said, is focusing on the app, and offerings such as FASTag and ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL), a customer favourite.
“I believe that over the past year, our team has done a great job in massively improving our revenues and contribution profits, which allows for investments in our payments and credit businesses while at the same time reducing our EBITDA losses. We are seeing excellent momentum in our businesses and are on track to achieve operating profitability (EBITDA before ESOP cost) by the quarter ending September 2023,” he said in a letter to the shareholders.
Sharma said that the company has achieved rapid growth in payments, and a huge scale-up in lending and payments devices businesses.
He said that India is in the midst of a technology revolution and the effect is visible – consumers and merchants’ demand for digital financial services is growing. “I believe, in the days to come, India will become an exemplar market, especially in payments, leading to financial services,” he added.
Paytm has sharpened its focus on payments, and distribution of lending products, and prioritised these businesses in their resource allocation, he said, further adding that more and more users are coming to the Paytm app now for everyday usage.
UPI is one of the key customer and merchant acquisition channels for the company, said Sharma. “We have been able to monetise our platform by upselling financial services to our customers and merchants, and also upselling payment devices to our merchants,” he stated.
The company is focusing on expanding payments offerings such as the Paytm app, and FASTag. “Our focus is also on showing how creditors can leverage this mobile payments relationship for lending. BNPL, which allows our partner financial institutions to issue credit to consumers at the point of sale, has become a consumer favourite,” Sharma said.
He said that Paytm also helps its financial institution partners “issue less and less risky loans to more and more people”. Its business model expands the creditworthiness of consumers, he added.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “We see that merchants intuitively understand the value of digital payments; and increasingly, they are ready to pay for technology that makes digital payments easier and trusted. We are increasingly seeing merchants opt for devices, whether Paytm card machines or Soundbox, on their counter, and this adoption of devices by merchants is almost certainly going to further accelerate.”
Also read: Honeymoon over! What Paytm's 'exit' as sponsor for Indian cricket implies for start-ups
Paytm-founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the company is witnessing “excellent momentum” in its businesses and is on track to achieve operating profitability in 2023. The company, on Thursday, released its first annual report for FY2021-22 as a publicly-listed company. The company, Sharma said, is focusing on the app, and offerings such as FASTag and ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL), a customer favourite.
“I believe that over the past year, our team has done a great job in massively improving our revenues and contribution profits, which allows for investments in our payments and credit businesses while at the same time reducing our EBITDA losses. We are seeing excellent momentum in our businesses and are on track to achieve operating profitability (EBITDA before ESOP cost) by the quarter ending September 2023,” he said in a letter to the shareholders.
Sharma said that the company has achieved rapid growth in payments, and a huge scale-up in lending and payments devices businesses.
He said that India is in the midst of a technology revolution and the effect is visible – consumers and merchants’ demand for digital financial services is growing. “I believe, in the days to come, India will become an exemplar market, especially in payments, leading to financial services,” he added.
Paytm has sharpened its focus on payments, and distribution of lending products, and prioritised these businesses in their resource allocation, he said, further adding that more and more users are coming to the Paytm app now for everyday usage.
UPI is one of the key customer and merchant acquisition channels for the company, said Sharma. “We have been able to monetise our platform by upselling financial services to our customers and merchants, and also upselling payment devices to our merchants,” he stated.
The company is focusing on expanding payments offerings such as the Paytm app, and FASTag. “Our focus is also on showing how creditors can leverage this mobile payments relationship for lending. BNPL, which allows our partner financial institutions to issue credit to consumers at the point of sale, has become a consumer favourite,” Sharma said.
He said that Paytm also helps its financial institution partners “issue less and less risky loans to more and more people”. Its business model expands the creditworthiness of consumers, he added.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “We see that merchants intuitively understand the value of digital payments; and increasingly, they are ready to pay for technology that makes digital payments easier and trusted. We are increasingly seeing merchants opt for devices, whether Paytm card machines or Soundbox, on their counter, and this adoption of devices by merchants is almost certainly going to further accelerate.”
Also read: Honeymoon over! What Paytm's 'exit' as sponsor for Indian cricket implies for start-ups