One 97 Communications Limited (Paytm) has reported a landmark financial turnaround for the year ended March 31, 2026, posting a consolidated net profit of ₹552 crores compared to a net loss of ₹663 crores in the prior year — a ₹1,215 crores improvement. EBITDA swung by ₹2,008 crores, improving from ₹(1,506) crores in FY25 to ₹502 crores in FY26, representing a 6% EBITDA margin. The Board of Directors approved the audited standalone and consolidated financial results at its meeting held on May 06, 2026, with the audit conducted by M/s S.R. Batliboi & Associates LLP, who issued an unmodified audit report.

Consolidated Financial Performance

Consolidated revenue from operations rose 22% year-on-year to ₹8,437 crores, driven by strong growth across payment services and financial services distribution. Total consolidated income, including other income of ₹854 crores, stood at ₹9,291 crores versus ₹7,625 crores in the prior year. Total consolidated expenses declined to ₹8,521 crores from ₹9,096 crores, contributing to the profit turnaround. The following table summarises the consolidated income statement:

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, consolidated revenue from operations was ₹2,264 crores versus ₹1,911 crores in the corresponding quarter of the prior year, a growth of 18% YoY. Consolidated net profit for the quarter stood at ₹183 crores, compared to a net loss of ₹545 crores in the quarter ended March 31, 2025. EBITDA for Q4 FY26 was ₹132 crores, an improvement of ₹220 crores YoY on a reported basis and ₹330 crores on a comparable basis.

Segment Revenue Breakdown

Revenue growth was broad-based across segments. Distribution of Financial Services was the fastest-growing segment, rising 52% YoY to ₹2,594 crores for the full year. Payment Services grew 20% YoY to ₹4,646 crores. Marketing Services declined 18% YoY to ₹952 crores. The table below presents the quarterly and annual segment performance:

Contribution profit for the full year grew 32% YoY to ₹4,860 crores, with contribution margin expanding 430 basis points to 58%. Total indirect expenses declined 16% YoY to ₹4,358 crores for FY26, reflecting AI-led operating leverage and cost discipline across the organisation.

Standalone Financial Performance

On a standalone basis, One 97 Communications reported revenue from operations of ₹5,825 crores for the year ended March 31, 2026, compared to ₹5,505 crores in the prior year. Total standalone income was ₹6,494 crores versus ₹6,142 crores, while total standalone expenses declined to ₹6,011 crores from ₹7,659 crores. The standalone net profit for the year was ₹67 crores, reversing a net loss of ₹789 crores in the prior year.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, standalone revenue from operations was ₹1,005 crores and standalone net profit was ₹119 crores, compared to a net loss of ₹581 crores in the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

Operational Metrics and Business Highlights

Key operational metrics reflected strong momentum across merchant and consumer segments. Merchant GMV grew 27% YoY to ₹6.5 lakh crores in Q4 FY26, while subscription merchants including devices reached 1.51 crores, adding 27 lakh net devices YoY. Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) expanded by 50 lakh YoY to 7.7 crores. Consumer UPI GTV grew at 2.2x industry levels, with Paytm recording 46% growth versus 21% industry growth in Q4 FY26.

Payment processing margin expanded to above 4 basis points in Q4 FY26, improving from the prior guidance of above 3 basis points, driven by higher growth of profitable MDR-bearing instruments including credit cards on UPI and affordability offerings such as EMI. Net payment revenue for Q4 FY26 was ₹583 crores, up 25% YoY on a comparable basis.

Cost Structure and AI-Led Operating Leverage

Total indirect expenses for Q4 FY26 were ₹1,122 crores, down 3% YoY from ₹1,160 crores. The cost of expanding the platform — comprising marketing and sales and service employee costs — rose 9% YoY to ₹382 crores, while the cost of building the platform declined 9% YoY to ₹740 crores. Marketing costs fell 37% YoY to ₹65 crores in Q4 FY26, while non-sales employee costs declined 16% YoY to ₹422 crores, partly reflecting lower ESOP costs following the Founder and CEO's voluntary surrender of ESOPs in Q4 FY25.

ESOP costs for FY26 came in at ₹174 crores, below the guided range of ₹250–275 crores, on account of ESOP lapses upon attrition. For FY27, ESOP costs are expected to be in the range of ₹250–300 crores.

Balance Sheet, Cash Position and Capital Strength

As at March 31, 2026, consolidated total assets stood at ₹23,915 crores compared to ₹21,448 crores as at March 31, 2025. Total consolidated equity increased to ₹16,028 crores from ₹14,997 crores. The company's total cash balance (excluding PML customer funds and escrow/nodal account balances, but including the pre-funded balance in escrow from PPSL) stood at ₹13,315 crores as of March 31, 2026, compared to ₹12,809 crores as of March 31, 2025, a YoY increase of ₹506 crores. Consolidated cash and cash equivalents rose to ₹3,285 crores from ₹2,077 crores. On a standalone basis, total assets were ₹14,712 crores and standalone cash and cash equivalents stood at ₹2,782 crores compared to ₹1,929 crores in the prior year.

Other income (primarily interest income) declined in Q4 FY26 on account of reinvestment of maturing investments at lower yields following 125 basis points of repo rate cuts. Proceeds from the sale of PayPay SARs in December 2024 were deployed in USD assets, resulting in lower reported other income, offset at the balance sheet level by a positive ₹255 crores translation impact on USD assets in FY26, reflected in reserves.

Exceptional Items and Key Developments

Exceptional items for the year ended March 31, 2026 included interest income of ₹21 crores received during the quarter and year relating to an impaired loan given to a joint venture in an earlier period. Exceptional losses for the full year comprised impairment of investments in associates of ₹5 crores, optionally convertible debentures of ₹12 crores, and a loan given to a joint venture of ₹190 crores. The company transferred its offline merchant business to its wholly owned subsidiary, Paytm Payments Services Limited, on a slump sale basis for a purchase consideration of ₹975 crores, effective midnight of November 30, 2025, pursuant to the RBI's Master Direction on Regulation of Payment Aggregators. As this was an intra-group transaction, it had no financial impact on the consolidated results.

Regarding the Show Cause Notice from the Directorate of Enforcement alleging contraventions of FEMA provisions with an aggregate value of approximately ₹611 crores, the RBI compounded matters of approximately ₹33 crores during the quarter and year ended March 31, 2026. On April 24, 2026, the RBI cancelled the banking licence of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), an associate company; the company has stated it has no exposure to PPBL and that there is no direct financial or operational impact from this development. Additionally, a new wholly owned step-down subsidiary in Indonesia, "PT Paytm Indonesia Teknologi," was incorporated on April 10, 2026, with a total investment of IDR 15 billion (approximately ₹8 crores).

IPO Proceeds Utilisation and Board Changes

Out of net IPO proceeds of ₹8,119 crores, the company had utilised ₹6,133 crores up to March 31, 2026, with ₹1,986 crores remaining un-utilised and temporarily invested in fixed deposits with scheduled commercial banks and in monitoring agency accounts. The Board approved the re-appointment of Mr. Ashit Ranjit Lilani (DIN: 00766821) as Non-Executive Independent Director for a second consecutive term of five years, commencing July 05, 2026 up to July 04, 2031, subject to member approval. Mr. Lilani holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from Bangalore University and a master's degree in business administration from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, and is the managing partner and co-founder of Saama Capital.

One 97 Communications Limited, the parent entity of Paytm, disclosed on May 06, 2026, that its Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) approved the grant of 1,77,044 stock options to eligible employees under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme 2019 (ESOP 2019). The NRC meeting commenced at 05:30 p.m. (IST) and concluded at 06:00 p.m. (IST). The disclosure was made pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

Stock Option Grant Details

The NRC approved the grant of 1,77,044 stock options under ESOP 2019, each convertible into one fully paid-up equity share of face value ₹1. The exercise price has been set at ₹9 per stock option. The committee also took note of 4,90,055 lapsed and cancelled stock options — comprising 4,88,232 options that lapsed in accordance with the terms and conditions of ESOP 2019, and 1,823 options that were cancelled.

The following table summarises the key parameters of the stock option grant:

Stock options granted under ESOP 2019 may be exercised at any time during the period of continuous active employment from the date of vesting of the respective options. The scheme also provides for treatment of stock options in cases of death, permanent incapacity, resignation, termination, retirement, or abandonment. In the event of corporate actions such as rights issues, bonus issues, splits, consolidations, mergers, or other reorganisations, requisite adjustments shall be made in a fair and reasonable manner in accordance with ESOP 2019.

Equity Share Allotment and Capital Structure

In addition to the option grant, the NRC approved the allotment of 70,504 equity shares of face value ₹1 each, as fully paid-up, to eligible employees upon exercise of vested options under ESOP 2019. The allotment date is May 06, 2026, with the distinctive numbers of the shares ranging from 65,56,76,423 to 65,57,46,926 (both inclusive). The exercise price per share stood at ₹9, with a premium of ₹8 per share.

The key details of the allotment and resultant capital structure are presented below:

Consequent to the allotment, the issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital of the company increased from 64,01,09,676 equity shares to 64,01,80,180 equity shares. All newly allotted equity shares rank pari-passu with the existing equity shares of the company in all respects, and no lock-in applies to these shares.

Regulatory Compliance

The stock option grant and allotment are in compliance with the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021. The original ESOP 2019 scheme was filed with the National Stock Exchange of India Limited on December 7, 2021 and March 8, 2022 (filing numbers 29276 and 30286), and with BSE Limited on December 6, 2021 and March 8, 2022 (filing numbers 143088 and 148040). The disclosure has been made by Company Secretary and Compliance Officer Sunil Kumar Bansal, and will also be hosted on the company's investor relations website at ir.paytm.com.