PayPal's Q4 profit surges 209% on strong user growth

The California-based company earned a net profit of $1.6bn in the three months to December 31

PayPal's Q4 revenue increased 23 per cent to $6.1 billion. AP

PayPal’s fourth quarter net profit surged 209 per cent year-on-year to $1.6 billion, helped by booming payment volumes amid the pandemic and a new feature that enabled cryptocurrency transactions.

Revenue during the period soared 23 per cent annually to more than $6.1bn.

“PayPal delivered record performance in 2020 as businesses of all sizes have digitised in the wake of the pandemic,” the company’s chief executive Dan Schulman said.

“In this historic year, we released more products than ever before and have dramatically scaled our acceptance worldwide … giving our 377 million consumer and merchant accounts even more reasons to use our platform.”

Operating profit of the company increased 21 per cent on an annualised basis to $963 million.

PayPal added 16 million new accounts, an annual increase of 72 per cent, during the period. Payment volumes processed through the platform rose 36 per cent to $277bn in the three months to December 31.

For the full 2020 fiscal year, PayPal’s net profit surged more than 70 per cent annually to $4.2bn, while revenue increased 22 per cent to $21.5bn.

The global online payment provider saw a record growth in 2020 as it added 72.7 million new users and handled payments worth $936bn.

“2020 was a pivotal year for PayPal and the broader payments ecosystem … we have entered 2021 energised by a greater sense of purpose and ready to build on our momentum,” John Rainey, chief financial officer and executive vice president of global customer operations, said.

PayPal said it expects its revenue to grow at 19 per cent to touch $25.5bn in the financial year of 2021 and aims to add 50 million new users.

In October, PayPal launched a new service enabling users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency. It enables cryptocurrency as a funding source for its 26 million merchants.

The company said the customers who buy cryptocurrency have been coming to the PayPal platform at a rate twice their login frequency prior to the purchase of crypto.

“We are excited to build upon this early success by allowing customers to use their crypto balance as a funding source,” said Mr Schulman.

“Digital-first world is no longer our future … it’s our current reality and it will forever change the way we interact across almost all elements of our lives,” he added.

The company also indicated it is assessing potential acquisitions this year.

“We are unique in the FinTech ecosystem as we enjoy outsized growth rates and are profitable … that allows us the ability to have this asset where we can look at inorganic opportunities to complement what we are doing,” he said.