Paytm To Achieve Ebitda Break-Even In 6 Quarters, Says CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma

The Paytm CEO has also mentioned that stock grants will be vested to him only when Paytm’s market cap crosses the IPO level on a sustained basis

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm CEO. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Online payment’s firm Paytm’s founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday said that the company is likely to be operating Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) break-even in the next six quarters.

In the letter, Sharma wrote, “We should be operating Ebitda breakeven in next six quarters (i.e. Ebitda before ESOP cost, and by the quarter ending September 2023), well ahead of estimates by most analysts. Importantly, we are going to achieve this without compromising any of our growth plans. Against the backdrop of volatile market conditions for high growth stocks globally, our shares are down significantly from the IPO price. Rest assured, the entire Paytm team is committed to build a large, profitable company and to create long-term shareholder value.”

The Paytm CEO has also mentioned that stock grants will be vested to him only when Paytm’s market cap crosses the IPO level on a sustained basis.

According to the letter, the number of loans disbursed through its platform grew 374 per cent to 65 lakhs loans in the March quarter, compared to the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the value of loans disbursed was Rs 3,553 crore, growing 417 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

Total merchant payment volume (GMV) processed through the platform during the fourth quarter of FY22 aggregated to about Rs 2.59 lakh crore ($34.5 billion), 104 per cent YoY growth. The company has also shared that it deploys 1,000 devices per day.

At 1.45 pm on Wednesday, shares of Paytm were trading at Rs 636, up 27 points on the BSE. The stock has declined as much as 75 per cent from its IPO price of Rs 2,150 in the recent weeks.

In the December quarter, Paytm saw its revenue rise 89 per cent to Rs 1,456 crore on a YoY basis, whereas net loss widened 45 per cent to Rs 778 crore. However, the company had said that its contribution profit (defined as revenue from operations less payment processing charges, promotional cashback and incentives, and other direct costs) improved to 31.2 per cent of revenue in Q3FY22 from 8.9 per cent in Q3FY21.