Wise posts 55% jump in profit on expanding market share By Darkweb News

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Wise, a British fintech company, reports a 55% increase in profits as its market share grows. ​

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Wise reported a 55% increase in profits on Wednesday for the first half of its fiscal year 2025, citing growing market share and client growth. ​

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A year ago, the British digital payments company's first-half earnings was £140.6 million; this year, it was £217.3 million. ​

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Wise reported 11.4 million consumer and corporate clients overall, which followed a 25% rise in active consumers. ​

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Wise said on Wednesday that the money transfer platform's revenues for the period increased 19% year over year to £591.9 million. ​

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Following Tuesday's gains on a cooperation with Standard Chartered to underpin the bank's cross-border payments offering for retail customers, Wise's shares jumped as much as 8% just after the London market began on Wednesday. ​

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At ten in the morning London time, the stock had risen nearly five percent.​

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Gautam Pillai, head of fintech research at investment firm Peel Hunt, emailed CNBC to say, "I remain bullish on Wise at these levels." ​

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"I think management has over-provisioned the cost base, as they have done in the past, even though they lowered consensus expectations during full year results in June citing increased investments." ​

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Pillai went on to say that Wise has been able to reduce its cost of products sold and, eventually, raise its margins thanks to its improved direct access to international payment systems and cheaper foreign exchange rates. ​

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Shares of the UK online payments company fell as much as 21% after Wise issued a sales warning earlier this year.​

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Wise stated back in June that it anticipated underlying year-over-year income growth for its fiscal 2025 of 15-20%, which is significantly less than the 31% growth pace it attained in the 12 months that ended in March 2024. ​

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Following several price cuts, the milder guidance was released. ​

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Wise announced last month that its underlying income for the second quarter of 2024 had increased by 17%. ​

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The company also stated that it would not need to make "further material investments in reduced pricing" in the second half and was on pace to reach an underlying profit before tax (PBT) margin of 13% to 16% in the medium term, restating earlier forecast from June. ​

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Wise said on Wednesday that its first-half underlying PBT margin was 22%, which was higher than its target range of 13% to 16%.​

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The company did, however, note that its pricing reduction efforts will bring that margin down to a level that is near that target range by the second half of its fiscal year 2025. ​

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The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority fined Wise's millionaire CEO and co-founder Kristo Käärmann £350,000 last week for neglecting to disclose an​

issue with his tax filings.​