The Dutch investment firm recognised a loss of $77 million on account of losing influence on BYJU’S
New Delhi: Fintech firm PayU India’s business grew 31 per cent to USD 399 million in FY23, its parent Prosus said on Tuesday.
The Dutch investment firm recognised a loss of USD 77 million on account of losing influence on BYJU’S as well as accumulated foreign currency losses with respect to the edtech firm.
Prosus holds a 9.6 per cent effective interest in BYJU’S.
Prosus said it has shut down the digital bank offering LazyCard
in response to regulatory changes in India.
The overall payments and fintech segment of the Dutch investment firm Prosus grew 32 per cent to USD 1.1 billion on strong growth in the core payment service provider (PSP) business and India credit business.
“India generated USD 399 million of revenue, which grew 31 per cent, fuelled by continued growth in enterprise and small and medium-sized businesses, as well as diversification into newer segments, including government merchants, omnichannel and other non-MDR (merchant discount rate) products,” Prosus said in the consolidated financial statement for 2023.
Prosus operates its fintech business in India through its subsidiary PayU.
“India, the largest market in the group’s PSP business, contributed 51 per cent of the core PSP business’ revenues, up from 47 per cent in the financial year 2022. India’s
TPV (total payment volume) grew 33 per cent to USD 58 billion, driven by transaction growth of 25 per cent to 1.4 billion,” the statement said.
On a consolidated basis, the core PSP business and credit drove PayU’s global revenue growth by 32 per cent to USD 903 million.
According to the statement, PayU’s Indian credit business grew 47 per cent compared to last year as it issued loans worth USD 742 million in loans.
The credit business of PayU grew revenue three times to USD 83 million, largely through growth in personal loans.
“The trading loss of USD 10 million represents a 63 percentage point improvement in the margin to minus 12 per cent, reflecting an improved loss rate of 2.5 per cent from 3 per cent in FY22. The business is close to breakeven,” according to the statement.
Prosus said that the group lost significant influence in BYJU’S in September 2022 as it no longer exerts significant influence over the financial and operating policies of the entity.
“The group recognised a gain on the loss of significant influence of the associate of USD 22 million, including a reclassification of the accumulated foreign currency translation losses of USD 55 million. The fair value of BYJU’S investment subsequent to the loss of significant influence is USD 578 million,” the statement said.
Prosus had invested USD 576 million in BYJU’S.
The Prosus Group’s consolidated revenue from continuing operations grew 10 per cent to USD 5.8 billion, with the biggest contributors being food delivery, payments and fintech.
Trading losses of Prosus increased year on year to USD 790 million from USD 644 million in FY22.
The Dutch firm said that its trading losses were reduced by 23 per cent in the second half of the year compared to the first half and it is in line with its commitment to achieving consolidated ecommerce profitability during the first half of FY25.
