Paytm's Group CFO Madhur Deora Quits Board To Focus On Executive Roles

Fintech major Paytm, which reported a profitable Q1, announced several changes to its board of directors along with its financial numbers. The biggest among this was that its president and group CFO Madhur Deora would step down from the company’s board and not seek reappointment.

However, Deora will continue in his role as Paytm’s group CFO and assisting CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma in driving the company’s expansion plans.

“On a personal level, I’ve been very much looking forward over the last two or three years to try some business practice for the company but… didn’t have the bandwidth. So I’m really looking forward to going back and driving certain big business initiatives,” Deora said in a post-earnings call.

Further, Paytm’s board also saw the exit of non-executive director Bimal Julka, who joined the board in January this year. Meanwhile, the company appointed its general counsel Urvashi Sahai as an additional director and a whole-time director of the company.

Paytm also said that it has roped in Adani Infrastructure’s subsidiary Manorview as the EPC contractor for the construction of its new office in Noida. The company was granted the land for setting up a 10-acre IT/ITES complex in 2018.

The total estimated cost for the new campus is INR 800 Cr. Once completed, it would have the capacity to accommodate over 14,000 employees, as per the tender issued by the company in 2021.

Paytm, which has laid off hundreds of employees over the past few quarters, may have further trimmed its workforce in Q1 FY26. Paytm’s employee expenses stood at INR 642.6 Cr in Q1 FY26, down about 14% from INR 748.3 Cr in the preceding March quarter. On a year-on-year basis, Paytm trimmed its employee costs by 33% from INR 952.5 Cr.

At the end of FY24, Paytm had an employee strength of 43,960.

In the past, the company attributed the layoffs to AI integration. In its earnings statement today, Paytm said “AI-led operating leverage” was one of the reasons for it turning profitable.

The company reported a consolidated net profit of INR 123 Cr and an EBITDA of INR 72 Cr in the June quarter. Operating revenue grew 28% to INR 1,918 Cr from INR 1,502 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Moving forward, the company expects its EBITDA to improve by 15% to 20% over the next 2-3 years.

“About 15 to 20% improvement in EBITDA over the next 2-3 years is a number we would be driving towards. And that seems more achievable today than even a few quarters ago because our contribution margin is very good. We are seeing that keeping a tight leash on indirect expenses allows us to grow very well,” Deora said during the earnings call.

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