MUMBAI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Walmart ( WMT )-backed Indian

fintech firm PhonePe is beginning preparatory steps for a public

listing on the country's stock exchanges, the company said on

Thursday.

"PhonePe's strong top-line and bottom-line growth across its

diverse business portfolio, as detailed in its FY23-24 annual

report, makes this a suitable time to prepare for a public

listing," the company said in a statement.

PhonePe, which was founded in 2016, turned a profit for the

first time in fiscal year 2024, achieving a consolidated profit

before the cost of employee stock options of 1.97 billion

rupees, compared to a loss of 7.38 billion rupees in the

previous year

Its revenue jumped 74% to over 50 billion rupees in the

reporting period.

The Indian stock market saw a significant upswing for

much of 2024, with many companies launching their IPOs, but a

downturn since October has weighed on investor sentiment.

PhonePe, which moved its domicile to India from Singapore in

October 2022, did not give a timeline for when it intends to

float an initial public offering.

PhonePe is among the most widely used apps in India to make

payments via India's popular unified payments interface (UPI).

Its share of UPI payments stood at 48.4% in January 2025.

It has more than 590 million registered users over 40

million merchants. It processes over 310 million online

transactions daily.

PhonePe's rival Paytm, formally known as One97

Communications, filed for a 183-billion-rupee IPO in 2021.

Paytm was trading at 755.55 rupees per share at market

close on Thursday, significantly down from its listing price of

1,950 rupees in 2021.