Paytm reported that its loss widened to Rs. 778.5 crores in the third quarter ending December 2021, according to the disclosure filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company had recorded a loss of Rs. 535.5 crores in the same quarter last financial year, increasing by nearly 45 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). The payments company has reported an increase in revenue to Rs. 1,456 crores from Rs. 772 crores, registering a growth of 89 per cent Y-o-Y, as per the financial results. It reasoned that the growth was driven by “high festive season demand, particularly in online and offline merchant business”. [caption id="attachment_155762" align="alignnone" width="880"] Source: PayTM Earnings Report[/caption] Paytm said that it has 64.4 million Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) which translates into a growth of 37 percent Y-o-Y in this quarter whereas it generated a revenue of Rs. 406 crores from these consumers. Paytm is one of the biggest startups to go public last year but its tepid listing raised concerns among investors about the profitability of India’s startup ecosystem. The company’s financials are a good measure of the health of its business and whether it can set itself on the path to profitability. Performance of Paytm’s merchant business The company earned revenue of Rs. 586 crores, a growth of 117 percent Y-o-Y, for processing payment in merchant stores or the app and the website. Some of its services to merchants include QR payments, EDC (Electronic Data Capture) and Soundbox devices, and Payment Gateway. “We were able to accelerate deployments…
