UK fintech Wise profit falls amid shifting primary listing to US
Money transfer firm Wise took a hit to profit in the first half of the year amid its move to shift its primary listing to New York.
The fintech darling recorded a 13 per cent reduction in pre-tax profit at £254.6m despite soaring numbers in customers and volume.
Marketing investment increased 59 per cent to £57m whilst tech investment was up 18 per cent to £144m.
Wise said it plans to hire over 1,000 additional colleagues as it bulks up capacity.
It comes after the firm shocked the City this summer after laying out plans to ditch its primary listing in London in favour of New York.
Wise finance boss: US offers us larger liquidity
Speaking to journalists following the half-year report, Wise’s finance boss Emmanuel Thomassin said: “While we are extremely happy to be in London and our main operations and management are here in London, we consider that the US is offering us a larger liquidity with a larger investors community.”
He added: “We are dual listing this company in London and in the US market to address the largest and deepest financial markets in the US.”
Thomassin also said the number of banks in the US provided a “big opportunity” to be “more visible” and gain more partners.
City officials had hoped the firm would be eyeing a FTSE 100 listing in a major boost to the London stock market.
Wise’s Wall Street ambitions also dented Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ hopes of a fintech-powered London stock market revival.
The Treasury launched a fleet of policies, including a new listings task force, catered towards fintechs in its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy in hopes of galvanising more London floats.
In its half-year report, the firm also noted a $4.2m penalty related to anti-money laundering failures following a routine US regulatory examination (MMET) between July 2022 and September 2023.