Q4FY25 marked a quarter of disciplined execution, strategic investments, and innovation-driven momentum. In our earnings call, Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and President & Group CFO Madhur Deora offered insights into our evolving strategy, powered by product excellence and operational efficiency.
A major highlight was the focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a lever for productivity and insight. As Vijay Shekhar Sharma shared, “More automation is coming up and we are seeing higher productivity per employee with AI. It is heartening to see the level of insights that are coming, and how our capabilities are improving with the technology.”
Continuing our commitment to financial discipline, Vijay emphasized our deliberate reduction in marketing spends to prioritize product development. “We have cut the marketing spends in the previous quarters to show the team that product really matters. And I do believe that a superior product can help us gain newer customers.” On monthly transacting users (MTUs), he added, “We have 200–250 million repeat users on our platform. Rather than overspend on marketing, we’re focused on investing in technology to enhance user value and drive sustained growth.”
Looking outward, our global ambitions are growing stronger. Speaking about international expansion, he noted, “It’s about empowering local markets with our AI-led platforms. Our success with PayPay, Japan shows how we can enable partners globally, with speed and efficiency in payments.”
On the growth trajectory, Madhur Deora shared, “Going forward, our consumer growth will be product-led. We continue to see opportunities in financial services distribution across broking and lending, as well as advertising. On consumer side, we remain optimistic on account of a highly engaged user base.”
One of the more visible changes this quarter has been our revamped Paytm app UI. “We’ve streamlined the app to make it simpler and more intuitive, aligned with our goal of delivering a seamless user experience. The new look is already showing results, with more customers engaging with the platform,” said Vijay.
On the performance of Paytm Money, an OCL subsidiary, he remarked, “We believe there’s strong upside and solid customer lock-in. It continues to show strong potential and has performed well.”
Touching on our path to profitability, Vijay stated, “We are at the verge of profitability and are confident to deliver on it if everything goes well.” In our earnings release for the quarter ending March 2025, we have reported an increase in EBITDA before ESOP and a sharp quarter-on-quarter improvement in PAT, driven by better cost control and operational efficiencies.
Additionally, our ESOP expenses will reduce significantly going forward, as the recent one-time, non-cash charge was an exceptional item. During the quarter, our Founder and CEO has voluntarily forgone all 2.1 Cr ESOPs granted to him. In fact, the company has guided that ESOP costs will drop to ₹75-100 crore in Q1 FY26, compared to ₹169 crore in Q4 FY25.
In our March quarter earnings call, he addressed this, saying: “As you are aware, we had a one-time charge this quarter. Our ESOP expenses have reduced quarter-on-quarter and are expected to be much lesser from next quarter.”
Reinforcing our commitment to cost efficiency, Madhur Deora highlighted the efforts of our tech teams: “Our technology and DevOps teams are highly cost-conscious and continue to work diligently to drive operational efficiencies. We’re very pleased with the meaningful improvements they’re delivering.”
Offering a glimpse of what’s ahead, Vijay said, “We’ll go much deeper in payments and financial services. Our product quality will be significantly enhanced, with AI integrated across most workflows. Expect continued innovation focused on meeting consumer needs.”
