Wise reports strong first half

(Sharecast News) - Wise reported a strong first-half financial performance on Wednesday, with revenue up 19% to £591.9m, and underlying income reaching £662.4m. Underlying operating profit surged 52% to £156.5m, driven by higher gross profits, reduced cost of sales, and increased net interest income from corporate investments.

Reported profit before tax rose 51% to £393.5m, while profit for the period was up 55% at £217.3m.

Wise said its customer base grew significantly, with active users up 25% to 11.4 million, who collectively transferred £68.4bn, marking a 19% year-on-year increase, or 21% on a constant currency basis.

The company's focus on enhancing infrastructure continued to benefit users, with 63% of payments processed instantly, 83% within an hour, and 94% within 24 hours.

Operational advancements also led to regulatory approvals for direct integration into domestic payment systems in Brazil, Japan, and the Philippines.

The board said product development remained central to Wise's strategy.

In the Philippines, the company launched the Wise Account and enabled outbound transfers, coinciding with the launch of InstaPay.

Additionally, Wise Platform expanded with nine new partners, including Nubank in Brazil, Qonto in France, and AbbeyCross in the UK, alongside a recent partnership with Standard Chartered.

"We are pleased with the progress over the first six months of the year, with our key financial metrics maintaining a healthy growth trajectory as we continue investing in the infrastructure that will ultimately enable us to move trillions through our market-leading network," said co-founder and chief executive officer Kristo Käärmann.

"As a result of these investments our infrastructure is developing quickly.

"This week we launched our sixth live direct connection to a domestic payment system, this time in the Philippines."

Käärmann said that followed regulatory approvals to also integrate directly with the domestic payment systems in Brazil and Japan, taking the number of direct connections to eight once integrated.

"Enhancing our infrastructure makes Wise increasingly efficient - 63% of transfers are now completed instantly and reducing unit costs allowed us to lower prices with the average cross border take rate at 62 basis points, five basis points lower than a year ago.

"Our customers value the speed, convenience and price we offer, with over 70% of new customers joining Wise through recommendations by existing customers.

"This drove another six months of strong financial performance with YoY growth in active customers of 25%, underlying income of 19%, cross border volume of 19% and a 31% increase in customer holdings."

At 0904 GMT, shares in Wise were up 3.57% at 798p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.