India’s digital payments company Paytm on Friday reported a wider first-quarter loss as costs related to marketing and employee benefits rose, but reiterated its goal of achieving operating profitability next year. Parent One 97 Communications Ltd reported a consolidated net loss for Paytm of 6.45 billion rupees ($81.28 million) for the quarter ended June 30, up 69% from a loss of 3.81 billion rupees ($48 million ) a year earlier.
However, total revenue rose nearly 88% to 17.81 billion Indian rupees, the company said in a stock exchange filing. Paytm, which competes with Google’s payments app and Walmart Inc’s PhonePe in India’s digital payments market, said it aims to achieve operating profitability by September 2023.The company is “firmly on track to achieve operating profitability through improved cost utilization,” the company said.
Its total costs increased by 84%, with significant increases in marketing and employee benefits costs. Paytm last month said it had disbursed loans worth 55.54 billion rupees, nearly nine times more than a year ago. The company, backed by China’s Ant Group and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, raised $2.5 billion late last year in one of India’s largest initial public offerings, but had a lackluster debut amid concerns about its high valuation and an uncertain path to profitability.
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