India’s Paytm posts narrower Q/Q loss before exceptional item on payments business recovery

(Reuters) -India’s Paytm reported a narrower sequential quarterly loss before exceptional items on Tuesday, as its digital payments business recovers from the central bank-ordered winding down of its banking unit earlier this year.

The company posted a loss of 4.07 billion rupees ($48.41 million) before exceptional items and tax, smaller than the record 8.39 billion rupees loss in the previous quarter but bigger than 2.73 billion rupees a year earlier.

On a net basis, Paytm reported its first-ever profit since listing, with a consolidated net profit of 9.28 billion rupees ($110.38 million) in the second quarter ended Sept. 30, on the back of a one-time gain of 13.45 billion rupees.

The company sold its event-ticketing business in August to food delivery firm Zomato in a 20.50-billion-rupee deal to focus on its dwindling payments and financial services business.

The company’s revenue from operations decreased by 34% to 16.60 billion rupees in the July-September quarter, recovering slightly from a 36% slide in the previous quarter when it absorbed the full impact of the wind-down.

The Reserve Bank of India, also the country’s financial regulator, wound down Paytm Payments Bank in January due to persistent compliance issues, sparking worries about Paytm’s digital transaction and loans business, and triggering a meltdown in the stock.

However, Paytm had said in May that it expected to see “meaningful” improvement in revenue and profitability from the second quarter.

($1 = 84.0720 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)