PayU India FY20 revenue rises 32%, even as Covid hits lending biz

PayU Payments, the Indian unit of Hoofddorp, Netherlands headquartered fintech firm PayU Global, reported a 31.9% rise in total yearly revenue in a Covid-affected economy. 

The company said its total revenue rose to Rs 1,194.4 crore in the financial year ended March 2020, from Rs 905.6 crore a year earlier.

However, the Gurugram headquartered business’ total expenses for the financial year multiplied about 1.3 times to Rs 1,293.9 crore.

As a result, the company’s total loss for the period ballooned 24.5% to Rs 160.7 crore. Total loss from discontinued operations after tax stood at Rs 61.2 crore. 

PayU Finance India was registered as a discontinuing operation in the regulatory filing of the financials. Incorporated in 2006, PayU alongside its subsidiary PayU Finance India, formerly known as Sidvik Leasing, offers payment gateway services for ecommerce transactions and short-term lending.

Due to the impact of Covid-19 on the Indian economy, and the subsequent lockdowns, PayU Finance India witnessed a slowdown in its lending business activities in the “remaining period in FY20”, the company said, without providing further details.

PayU Payments said it had executed a share purchase agreement with Paysense in February 2020, for the sale of its entire equity investment held in PayU Finance India, for Rs 39,281.85.

In January 2020, PayU was set to acquire a controlling stake in PaySense Services for $185 million. The Prosus Ventures-owned company was to restructure its lending operations through a merger of its online credit platform LazyPay with PaySense.

In December 2020, PayU said in a statement that it onboarded 1 lakh new small and medium business (SMB) merchants in April, May and June. In 2020, the firm said, it witnessed a 100% growth in total processes volume in the SMB segment, compared to 2019.