Pre-tax loss for the quarter stood at Rs 186.61 crore, lower than pre-tax loss of Rs 204.45 crore in the corresponding period last year.

During the quarter, total expenses jumped 62.6% to Rs 815.12 crore. Advertising and promotion expenses surged 93.51% to Rs 312.38 crore. Network and internet expenses increased 36.69% to Rs 24.33 crore. Employee benefit expense climbed 48.37% to Rs 410.29 crore.

Net cash flow from operating activities stood at Rs -272.15 crore in six months ended 30 September 2022, higher than net cash flow of Rs -139.79 crore in six months ended 30 September 2021.

Core business adjusted EBITDA was Rs 12 crore positive for the quarter (absorbing an Rs 5 crore loss by the non-insurance business), thus core insurance business had an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 18 crore for the quarter.

The fintech major's new initiatives, which include its seller aggregator platform PB Partners, generated a revenue of Rs 164 crore, up 10X YoY.

PB Fintech said that its lending business grew 94% YoY during the quarter and currently has a disbursal annualised run rate (ARR) of Rs 12,000 Cr, with over 75% disbursals coming from its existing customers who are demonstrating strong repeat behaviour.

Digitization is becoming significant in lending – currently led by credit cards where about 73% of cards issued in Q2 were end-to-end (E2E) digital. "As the lending moves to more E2E digital, a digital marketplace with improving experience like ours would stand to benefit," the company said in a statement.

By the end of September, Paisabazaar had 3.2 million total transacting customers on its platform, with 31 million having accessed their credit scores on the platform. The company expects its credit business to be adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4, 22.

Meanwhile, insurtech vertical Policybazaar witnessed a 79% YoY growth in ARR for insurance premium. The company's current ARR for insurance premium stands at over Rs 10,000 crore, it said.

Policybazaar processed insurance premiums worth Rs 2,545 crore in Q2 FY23 as against Rs 1,423 crore in the same period last fiscal year, while its total transacting customers stood at 12.8 million at September-end.

"While there has been an industry slowdown in retail protection sales, we delivered 34% growth in health insurance premiums and 29% in life insurance new biz premiums, which is 2-5x of the industry," the company said. PB Fintech reiterated that it expects to be adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4 this year.

PB Fintech, the owner of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar platforms, is India's largest online platform for insurance and lending products.

Shares of PB Fintech rose 2.49% to Rs 386.25 on Monday, 7 November 2022.