Paytm spends Rs 267 crore on marketing in Q3 FY25, focusses on merchants' growth

One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm shared its financial results for the third quarter of FY 2025, showing steady performance in its marketing services division.

This division, which includes services like advertising, travel bookings, credit card distribution, and deals, earned Rs 267 crore in revenue in Q3 FY25, slightly lower than the Rs 268 crore from Q2 FY25. This came despite the company selling its entertainment ticketing business in Q2.

Paytm is focussing on helping merchants boost their business using its marketing services. It also relies on its growing number of monthly active users (MTUs) to drive future revenue. The MTU count averaged seven crore this quarter, down slightly from 7.1 crore last quarter.

Its operational revenue fell by 35.8% year-on-year to Rs 1,827.8 crore but increased 10% compared to the previous quarter.

Earlier in 2024, India’s banking regulator imposed strict restrictions on Paytm’s banking partner due to concerns over data management, disrupting its operations. In response, founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma worked to strengthen ties with other Indian banks and sold Paytm’s movie and events ticketing business to Zomato.

Paytm is now waiting for the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to operate as a payments aggregator, which will allow merchants to easily accept digital payments.

Gross merchandise value (GMV) for ticketing, deals, and gift vouchers grew to Rs 2,281 crore this quarter, a quarter-on-quarter increase after excluding entertainment ticketing from the previous quarter.

Paytm also cut costs significantly, reducing indirect expenses to Rs 1,000 crore (a 7% quarterly and 23% yearly drop). Marketing costs fell 17% to Rs 104 crore, and employee costs dropped 6% quarterly and 29% yearly to Rs 575 crore, highlighting better efficiency.

The company noted slower growth in its credit card distribution business, as issuers are being cautious. Paytm had 13.9 lakh activated credit cards by December 2024, up from 10.1 lakh the previous year.