Walmart-owned PhonePe records consolidated revenue of Rs 2,914 cr in FY23 on expanding digital payments market

Walmart-owned homegrown fintech major PhonePe on October 18 reported a 77 per cent year-on-year growth and recorded a consolidated revenue of Rs 2,914 crore in FY23 revenue. In the last fiscal, its consolidated revenue was Rs 1,646 crore. PhonePe has attributed its growth to — market expansion and leadership in the digital payments market, especially in major revenue-contributing use cases like Money Transfers, Mobile Recharges and Bill Payments.

"Revenue growth was also driven by the launch and scale-up of new products and businesses such as Smart Speakers, Rent Payments, and Insurance Distribution. For example, As of 31st Aug 2023, Smart Speaker deployment stands at 4.1 million," PhonePe said in a statement.

PhonePe, which has more than 490 million registered users, had a near 51 per cent share of the value of transactions on India's instant money transfer system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as of March end.

Revenue growth was also driven by the launch and scale-up of new products and businesses such as Smart Speakers, Rent Payments, and Insurance Distribution. PhonePe’s Smart Speaker deployment was at 4.1 million as of August 31, 2023.

“FY23 has been a pivotal year for PhonePe - we continued our rapid top-line growth, diversified our revenue from non-payment businesses, progressed towards positive EBITDA (before ESOP cost) and executed key strategic actions geared towards long-term future growth," PhonePe said in a release.

PhonePe's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) excluding employee costs stood at Rs 159 crores in profit as against a loss of Rs 455 crores in FY22.

PhonePe's standalone PhonePe India Pvt Ltd entity, which houses its payments business, recorded an operating loss of Rs 1,755 crore in FY23, up from Rs 1,612 crore in FY22.

"Substantial ESOPs were granted in FY23 towards the corporate restructuring and as one-time rewards for setting up and incentivizing new business," PhonePe's statement said.

Founded in 2015, the fintech major is planning to float its IPO in 2024-2025. In this regard, PhonePe secured an additional $200 million in primary capital from Walmart at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion in March. The funding was a part of PhonePe's ongoing capital raise of up to $1 billion, following its shift to India last year.

The homegrown digital payments decacorn had raised $350 million from General Atlantic in January this year and $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds in February. With this funding round, the company has now raised $650 million from various global investors. The company expects further investments to be announced in due course.
 
In April, the payments giant made its big e-commerce foray with the hyperlocal commerce app – Pincode – by going live on ONDC.

(With agency inputs)

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