Paytm’s profit slumps on gaming-unit hit despite revenue gain
Paytm's bottom line was hit by a Rs 190-crore impairment against a loan to First Games Technology after the government prohibited online money-gaming.
One 97 Communications Ltd., the operator of Paytm, reported a net profit of Rs 21 crore for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025, dropping sharply from about Rs 928 crore a year earlier, as a one-time impairment tied to its online-gaming joint venture swamped operating gains.
Last year's Rs 928 crore was on account of Paytm's ticketing platform sale to Eternal, the holding company of Zomato.
Revenue from operations rose 24% to Rs 2,061 crore from Rs 1,659 crore, while total expenses fell to Rs 2,062 crore from Rs 2,245 crore.
Before exceptional items, profit before tax improved to Rs 220 crore versus a loss of Rs 407 crore a year earlier, underscoring better core execution.
The bottom line was hit by a Rs 190-crore impairment against a loan to First Games Technology Pvt., Paytm’s JV, after India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, prohibited online gaming.
The company also recognised an impairment provision of Rs 5 crore on an associate investment and Rs 12 crore on optionally convertible debentures in the June quarter, bringing additional pressure on first-half results.
Payments
Net payment revenue climbed 28% year on year to Rs 594 crore, helped by better processing margins, more device deployments and an early festive season. Merchant subscriptions reached 1.37 crore.
Total payment volume (GMV) rose 27% to Rs 5.67 lakh crore.
Paytm has adopted a more efficient approach to device management, refurbishing hardware from inactive merchants and redeploying it to active ones. This strategy has boosted utilisation rates while keeping capital expenditure under control.
Financial services
Distribution revenue jumped 63% to Rs 611 crore, with merchant loans serving as the primary growth driver. Average monthly transacting users reached 7.5 crore, while customers actively using Paytm's financial services rose to 6.5 lakh from 6.0 lakh a year earlier.
This growth was led by merchant lending and margin-funding products within the company's broking platform.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan