PayPal India’s revenue rises 150% in FY19

Global payments company PayPal India’s revenue has increased 2.5 times in the financial year ended March 2019, as per local regulatory filings.

The San Jose, California-headquartered company’s total revenue rose to Rs 654.7 crore in the reported period, from Rs 261 crore a year ago, according to company filings at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Its net loss, on the other hand, widened to Rs 8.1 crore from Rs 2.3 crore year-on-year. This was majorly pushed by the ‘marketing incentives’ charges under the company’s miscellaneous expenses bracket. Miscellaneous expenses is a sub-category under the ‘other expenses’ category of company costs. It rose to Rs 79.2 crore against previous period’s Rs 3 crore. 

FY19’s other miscellaneous expenses include charges under summation of computer, software and office supplies. FY18’s miscellaneous expenses consisted of these categories with no mention of ‘marketing incentives’.

The company’s total expenses grew 2.5x to Rs 660.3 crore.

In July, the Delhi High Court had issued notices to the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), the ED (Enforcement Directorate) and Paypal Payments while hearing a PIL (public interest litigation) on the company’s ‘illegal’ status in India. The PIL had alleged that Paypal Payments was acting in violation of the Payment and Settlements Systems Act, and was not an RBI-authorised PSO (payment system operator). In the same month, the company opened a new global technology centre in Hyderabad, the third in India after Chennai and Bengaluru.

Global financials

PayPal Holdings, the global parent holding, is set to report its financials for the fourth quarter 2019 at an earnings call scheduled for January 29. The company’s services are available in 202 countries and 25 currencies around the world, according to its website.

In the third quarter ended September 2019, net income at the NASDAQ-listed company had grown to $462 million or 39 cents per share, from $436 million or 36 cents a share a year ago.

The firm’s revenue had grown 19% globally to $4.38 billion. In Q3, 9.8 million net new active accounts were added, bringing the total active accounts to 295 million, up 16% year-over-year, it had said. Excluding items, the digital payments company had earned 61 cents per share.