UK fintech Wise ditches London primary listing for US
Money transfer firm Wise dealt a crushing blow to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, after announcing plans to transfer its primary listing to the US.
The UK fintech’s new proposals include a dual listing in the UK and US, but with the latter as a primary base.
Wise said transferring its main listing would “provide a potential pathway to inclusion in major US indices, further enhancing liquidity and demand for Wise shares”.
“While Wise is not initially expected to be eligible for these indices, a US primary listing provides the opportunity to work towards this inclusion,” the firm added.
The company said it will call a shareholder meeting in the coming weeks to vote on the fresh proposal.
Wise’s plans mark the latest hit for the embattled LSE. Earlier this week drugmaker Invidior said it intends to abandon its London listing to focus on its primary listing in the US.
City analysts had hoped fintech could be a saving grace for London markets on the back of a rumoured listing from neobank juggernaut Monzo.
The Treasury has courted a fleet of fintech darlings to advocate for listings.
Wise was rumoured to be eying an FTSE 100 listing earlier this year, but its new plans pour cold water over government and market officials’ hopes.
The fintech said the primary US listing would “significantly enhance [its] profile” and “closely align with major growth opportunities”.
Wise’s profit jumps as customer base balloons
Wise also provided an update on its performance for the financial year ending March 31.
The UK fintech recorded a 26 per cent increase in cross-border volumes to £145.2bn, which it said was driven by customer growth and greater adoption of the Wise account.
Its customer base swelled 21 per cent to 15.6m, with personal customers up 22 per cent.
This helped boost pre-tax profit 17 per cent to £565m, with basic earnings per share climbing 18 per cent to 40.37p.
Wise said it had committed to investing around £2bn over the next two years, across infrastructure, marketing and products.
Kristo Käärmann, co-founder and chief executive of Wise, said: “We will accelerate our investments to improve the customer experience and to increase our share of the huge around £32 trillion market opportunity.
“Powered by our new payments infrastructure that is fundamentally faster, cheaper, and more reliable than the traditional correspondent networks, we’re well on our way to handle trillions, not just billions, and become ‘the’ global network for the world’s money.”
Käärmann added the fintech’s listing transfer would “bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits to Wise and our Owners.
“These include helping us drive greater awareness of Wise in the US, the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products today, and enabling better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market.”