Global investment group Prosus has said that its payments and fintech segment grew 21 percent to $497 million in the first half of 2024 mainly driven by the growth in India payments, India credit and from the business in Turkey.
Prosus' statement also revealed that the Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) platform LazyCard in India is shut down.
"The consolidated trading loss of Prosus' narrowed by US$62 million due to improved profitability in Global Payments Organisation, Turkey and also from the savings from closure of India’s LazyCard business," The report said.
Prosus's payment arm PayU India recorded a revenue of $211 million in the H1 of FY24.
"India is our largest market in the core PSP business, contributing around 48 percent of revenues. India’s revenue grew 15 percent (20 percent) to $211 million, driven by growth from existing merchants, Wibmo and its omnichannel business," The report said.
The credit business in India for PayU grew revenue by 23 percent to $43 million despite regulatory headwinds. India Credit has a loan book of $338 million at the end of September 2023 after issuing $ 362 million in credit during the first half of FY24.
Prosus' core Payment Service Provider (PSP) revenue is primarily made up of payments operations in India, GPO (Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America), Iyzico (Turkey)and Red Dot Payments (south-east Asia).
In August of 2023, PayU agreed to sell its GPO business, excluding Turkey and Red Dot Payments, to Rapyd, a fintech-as-a-service provider, for $610 million. Prosus's statement said that the sale will close in the first half of calendar 2024.
Impact of delay in new customer onboarding
Prosus's report said that the Payments and Fintech segment operates profitable core PSP businesses despite pending regulatory approvals. However, the firm is in talks with authorities and expects a resolution soon.
In December 2022, the Reserve Bank of India issued an order to firms including PayU, Razorpay and Cashfree to stop onboarding new merchants to the platform.
Also Read: Prosus marks down Byju's stake, valuing edtech giant at less than $3 billion
"The regulatory approvals relate to onboarding new online merchants while we continue to provide payment services to our existing online merchants. We are working closely with the relevant authorities and expect a resolution soon," The report said.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
