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. Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the company confirmed that the audio recording of the Earnings Conference Call held on May 07, 2026 — which commenced at 08:00 a.m. (IST) and concluded at 09:00 a.m. (IST) — has been uploaded on the company's website at ir.paytm.com/financial-results.

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.

One 97 Communications Limited has filed its Monitoring Agency Report for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, in compliance with Regulation 32 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, read with Regulation 41 of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018. The report was issued by Axis Bank Limited, the appointed Monitoring Agency, and has been reviewed by the Audit Committee and taken on record by the Board of Directors at their respective meetings held on May 06, 2026.

IPO Background and Issue Details

The disclosure pertains to the utilisation of proceeds raised through the company's Initial Public Offer. Key details of the issue are summarised below:

No Deviation Reported in IPO Proceeds Utilisation

The Monitoring Agency confirmed that there is no deviation from the objects stated in the offer document. All utilisation has been carried out in accordance with the disclosures made in the offer document, and no material deviations have been observed over earlier monitoring agency reports. All government and statutory approvals related to the objects have been obtained, and the means of finance for the disclosed objects have not changed.

Cost of Objects and Utilisation Progress

The revised total cost of objects stands at ₹8,119 Crore, marginally higher than the original cost of ₹8,113 Crore, owing to a revision in the General Corporate Purposes head. The following table presents the cost breakdown by object:

The progress in utilisation of IPO proceeds as at the end of the quarter ended March 31, 2026, is detailed below:

During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, utilisation under Object 2 comprised ₹0.50 Crore towards Payment Services and ₹13.50 Crore towards Commerce and Cloud Services, aggregating to ₹14 Crore for the quarter.

Deployment of Unutilised Proceeds

The unutilised IPO proceeds of ₹1,986 Crore have been deployed in bank deposits and bank balances, as detailed below:

It is noted that during the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the company received INR 13.02 Crore as interest on fixed deposits, which was transferred from the Axis Bank Monitoring Agency account to the General Purpose bank account.

Regulatory Compliance and Disclosure

The Monitoring Agency declared that the report provides a true and fair view of the utilisation of issue proceeds and that no direct or indirect interest or conflict of interest exists with the issuer, its promoters, directors, or management. The disclosure has been hosted on the company's investor relations website at https://ir.paytm.com/ . No timeline for completion of objects was specified in the object clause of the letter of offer, rendering the delay-in-implementation table not applicable.