Paytm shares are in focus on Tuesday after One 97 Communications, the company behind the payments brand, reported a sharp jump in its September quarter profit. The fintech major’s profit after tax rose more than 10-fold to Rs 225 crore in the second quarter of financial year 2026-27, up from Rs 21 crore in the same quarter last year, marking its sixth consecutive profitable quarter.
The results, approved by the company’s board on Monday, show a business that is now making money more consistently even as it keeps spending on technology and growth. Operating revenue grew 28 percent year on year to Rs 2,648 crore, helped by momentum in both its merchant and consumer businesses, better monetisation and wider use of artificial intelligence across its operations.
The numbers that matter
The headline figures tell a clear story of improving profitability. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, rose 90 percent to a record Rs 270 crore, and the EBITDA margin crossed into double digits for the first time, reaching 10 percent. For the first half of the financial year, profit after tax more than tripled to Rs 445 crore, compared with Rs 144 crore a year earlier.
On a comparable basis, which strips out the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund incentive received until December 2025, the underlying improvement looks even stronger. Operating revenue grew 33 percent and EBITDA nearly quadrupled, while the EBITDA margin expanded from 3 percent to 10 percent. In plain terms, Paytm is keeping a bigger share of every rupee it earns.
- Profit after tax: Rs 225 crore, up from Rs 21 crore a year ago
- Operating revenue: Rs 2,648 crore, up 28 percent year on year
- EBITDA: Rs 270 crore, up 90 percent, at a record 10 percent margin
- First half profit: Rs 445 crore, up from Rs 144 crore last year
- Payment services revenue: Rs 1,434 crore, up 25 percent year on year
What drove the jump
Two forces did most of the heavy lifting: payments and efficiency. Payment services revenue rose 25 percent to Rs 1,434 crore, while net payment revenue grew 21 percent on a comparable basis to Rs 644 crore. At the same time, indirect expenses grew more slowly than revenue, falling to 46 percent of revenue from 52 percent a year earlier, a shift the company credits to AI-led efficiencies and slower growth in platform-building costs.
Total income for the quarter, including other income of Rs 182 crore, stood at Rs 2,830 crore, while total expenses rose 23 percent to Rs 2,531 crore. Spending on software, cloud and data centres jumped 59 percent
to Rs 211 crore, reflecting heavier AI usage that the company expects to continue for at least another quarter.
The UPI engine keeps gaining
Perhaps the most telling number sits outside the profit line. Paytm gained consumer UPI payment market share for the sixth consecutive quarter, with its UPI transaction value growing 42 percent, more than double the industry growth rate of 19 percent. Monthly transacting users rose by one crore over the year to 8.5 crore, the largest addition in nearly three years, driven by better products, stronger customer retention and AI-led personalisation.
That user growth matters because it feeds everything else Paytm sells, from merchant devices to financial products distributed through its platform. A payments app that people open every day is far easier to monetise than one they visit occasionally.
What it means for users and investors
For ordinary users, little changes overnight: the app works the same way, and the results do not announce new charges or features. But a profitable Paytm is a more stable Paytm, with more room to invest in technology and customer support rather than chasing growth at any cost. For investors, the question now shifts from whether Paytm can make a profit to whether it can keep growing one while competition in UPI stays intense.
What is already clear from the numbers is that Paytm’s turnaround, doubted for years after its difficult stock market debut, now has six straight profitable quarters behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What was Paytm’s profit in Q2 FY27?
Paytm’s parent company One 97 Communications reported a profit after tax of Rs 225 crore for the September 2026 quarter, up from Rs 21 crore a year earlier.
How much did Paytm’s revenue grow?
Operating revenue rose 28 percent year on year to Rs 2,648 crore, while payment services revenue grew 25 percent to Rs 1,434 crore.
Why is Paytm’s profit rising so fast?
Strong growth in payments, rising UPI transaction value, better monetisation and AI-led cost efficiencies all contributed, along with a record EBITDA margin of 10 percent.
How many monthly users does Paytm have?
Monthly transacting users increased by one crore over the year to 8.5 crore, the highest addition in nearly three years.
Is this Paytm’s first profitable quarter?
No. The September quarter was Paytm’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter, continuing a run that began last year.
Paytm’s September quarter will be remembered as the one where profit stopped being a surprise and started looking like a habit. Whether the company can hold that habit through the rest of the financial year is the story to watch next.
