Paytm parent One97 in red for 7th year, but cuts losses

Paytm's parent company One97 Communications suffered losses for the seventh consecutive year though it managed to curtail losses by 28 per cent to Rs 2,833 crore in the financial year 2019-20. The significant reduction in losses was reported due to curtailed expenses.

The company's overall expenses were reduced by 20 per cent in 2019-20 to Rs 5,861 crore compared to Rs 7,254 crore in the previous fiscal year, shows Toffler data. Paytm's revenues also fell slightly (1 per cent) to Rs 3,350 crore in FY20. The company's overall revenue from operations stood at Rs 3,115 crore in FY20 vs Rs 3,049 crore in the previous year.

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As the company forays into various segments, One97 aims to turn profitable by FY22. Apart from e-commerce and payments services, the company has forayed into insurance, mutual funds, lending, brokerage services, wealth management, gaming services, among others.

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US-based mutual fund T Rowe recently raised One97 arm fintech arm Paytm's valuation by about 35 per cent to $255 per share, taking the total enterprise value of the Indian digital financial services firm to $16 billion. T Rowe Price had invested at least $150 million in Paytm in December 2019.

Paytm had also announced recently that it will waive all charges on merchant transactions and enable its merchant partners to accept payments from Paytm wallet, UPI apps and RuPay cards at zero charges. Paytm said it will absorb Rs 600 crore in MDR charges annually by banks and other charges to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) during the ongoing pandemic.

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