Paytm has over 335 million users who utilize its platform to make payments and transfer money, yet fintech companies have struggled to make digital transactions remunerative in India’s vast electronic payments sector.
After a turbulent debut for the company behind India’s largest initial public offering, Paytm’s top executives spent 90 minutes on a call with investors and analysts on Saturday as they dissected its business model and raised questions on monetization.
Whether officials have done enough to ease doubts on revenue streams and profitability prospects remain to be seen when markets reopen. One97 Communications, the parent of the digital payments giant, ended last week 17 per cent below its offer price of 2,150 rupees ($28.68), after falling to as low as 1,271 rupees at one point.
Over the weekend, One97 reported losses widened to 4.74 billion rupees in the July-to-September quarter from a year ago amid rising expenses. Revenue rose more than 60 per cent in the same period, boosted by growth in financial, commerce and cloud services.
“Strong momentum in revenue growth will continue,” Paytm Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora said on the call. Contribution margins jumped “with clear trends towards continued year-on-year improvements,” he said in the presentationthat was later filed to stock exchanges.
