Payments firm Wise posts rise in FY profits, revenue

Payments company Wise - which floated on the London Stock Exchange last year - posted a jump in full-year profit and revenue on Tuesday.

In the year to the end of March, pre-tax profit rose 7% to £43.9m, with revenues up 33% at £559.9m. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 12% higher on the previous year at £121.4m.

Wise said its customer base increased 29% on the same period a year earlier.

Co-founder and chief executive Kristo Kaarmann said: "In our first year as a publicly listed company, we continued to push forward on our mission to make moving and managing money across borders faster, easier, cheaper and more transparent for everyone, everywhere.

"We made sound progress on our mission this year, we saw volumes grow 40% year-over-year to £76 billion and we helped our 13 million customers save what we estimate to be over £1 billion in fees. But this remains just the beginning for Wise. Today, millions of people and businesses continue to be overcharged and poorly served by banks and other providers. We will continue to invest in our infrastructure, build features for a smooth and delightful international banking experience, and expand globally to bring Wise to more people and businesses around the world."

In the medium term, the company continues to expect to deliver revenue growth above 20% and an adjusted EBITDA margin at or above 20%. For FY23, revenue is expected to grow by between 30% to 35% thanks to a continuation of some positive trends from FY22 carrying through to the beginning of the financial year.

On Monday, Wise announced that the Financial Conduct Authority had opened an investigation into Kaarmann after he was fined by HMRC for deliberately defaulting on his taxes.