Paytm shares fell up to 7.7% in early Mumbai trading on Friday ahead of the results. While the stock jumped about 32% over the past three days, it’s still well below its $2.5 billion IPO set price as investors continue to weigh its longer-term prospects.
Ruchi Jain, head of research, 5paisa.com, a listed discount broker, said, “Paytm’s revenue has remained more or less flat, despite the increase in customer base over the past few years. “While it has reduced losses, none of the business segments such as payments, consumer credit or insurance distribution are showing signs of profitability.”
Jain said the focus will be on which segments are starting to make more money and the company is selling more products by leveraging its customer base.
Despite the challenges, backers of Paytm include Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. BlackRock Inc. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, who were among the so-called anchor investors in the IPO who bought more shares on Tuesday and Wednesday. , according to people familiar with the matter.
Startup Rockstar in 2021
Sign in to see our list of the Most Promising Startups of 2021
Chakri Lokpriya, Chief Investment Officer, TCG Advisory Services said, “The road to profitability is a long way off for Paytm. “About 75% of its business is digital payments, which is now a highly competitive segment where retaining customers is a challenge.”
Lokpriya said it is looking for new customers and merchants in Paytm, and is taking initiatives to introduce new lines of business and improve “customer stickiness” and advance loan and insurance products.
In an exchange filing after its launch, Paytm said its gross trading value grew 131% to 832 billion rupees ($11.2 billion) in October in the crucial period before the Diwali holiday. It also disbursed 1.3 million loans and deployed one million additional merchant tools.
This failed to impress Macquarie Capital Securities (India) Pvt, which took a downbeat call on the stock and said the new details did not materially affect profit and loss estimates.
The earnings call will take place at 6 pm India Standard Time after the announcement of Paytm’s quarterly and half-yearly results on Saturday.