Summary
Paytm (One97 Communications) reported its first full-year profit of ₹552 crore ($60M) in FY26, swinging from a ₹663 crore loss a year earlier, with revenue up 22% to ₹8,437 crore. Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the fintech will step up investment in AI, financial services, and its merchant ecosystem. The recovery follows the January 2024 RBI restriction on Paytm Payments Bank, which forced Paytm to migrate its UPI and payments relationships to partner banks and cut costs sharply. Shares have rebounded more than fivefold from the February 2024 low.
Key Points
- FY26 PAT ₹552 crore vs ₹663 crore loss in FY25; revenue up 22% to ₹8,437 crore
- EBITDA improved ₹2,008 crore to ₹502 crore (6% margin)
- Sharma: "This has been a defining year for Paytm," "sustainably profitable"
- Plan to invest in AI, financial services, merchant ecosystem
- Merchant GMV +26% to ~₹23.8 lakh crore FY26; subscription merchant base 1.51 crore (from 1.24 crore)
- Financial services revenue +52% to ₹2,594 crore, 31% of revenue (from 25%)
- June quarter: record EBITDA ₹203 crore (+182% YoY), PAT ₹220 crore (+79% YoY)
- Consumer UPI GTV +46% YoY at 2.2x industry growth; MTU up 50 lakh to 7.7 crore
- Shares at ₹1,632, ~5x Feb 2024 low (₹318.35), near 52-week high ₹1,657.60
- Crisis context: Jan 2024 RBI restriction on PPBL, forcing UPI/payments to migrate to third-party banks; PPBL license later cancelled (April)
- AI strategy: applied AI on open-source and small language models for SMBs, voice and Indian languages; agentic tools boost engineering output without proportionate headcount
- Board proposed raising Sharma's fixed pay to ₹7 crore in FY27 (subject to shareholder approval)
- "Agentic is a renewed opportunity for Paytm to gain market share" — Sharma; "Seven times more people complete the funnel in an agentic workflow"