Wise profits treble as CAB Payments confirms plans to list on the LSE

Britain’s financial technology sector received a double boost as payments company Wise said its profits had more than tripled, while another confirmed plans to list on the London Stock Exchange next week.

Wise, which specializes in international money transfers, posted a profit of £146.5m for the year to the end of March, up from £43.9m in 2022.

And CAB Payments revealed its shares would list on the London market next Thursday at an expected value of around £851m.

The announcements provided much-needed optimism for the UK tech sector, which has been beset by several criticisms and high-profile disapproval in recent months.

The most notable of these was semiconductor maker Arm, whose parent company SoftBank has chosen to list the company in New York despite strong government lobbying.

“It’s a double dose of good news for the UK,” said Russ Shaw, founder of industry organization Tech London Advocates, adding that it reflected the strength of London’s tech industry and predicted more tech companies to debut in the stock market this year. can make. year.

“We will see more coming in. They are just waiting for the right market dynamics. There is huge interest in British technology,” Shaw added.

Wise attributed its huge profits to rising interest rates, which allowed it to generate more income from customer funds in its accounts, while also increasing balances.

Its active customer base grew 34 percent year-on-year to around 10 million, boosting revenue by 51 percent to £846.1 million.

Wise shares rose 16.4 percent, or 86 pence, to 611.4 pence yesterday. The numbers will be welcomed by investors after a rough patch following Wise’s IPO in July 2021.

Despite the stock being over-the-top at about 800 pence per share, the stock has since lost much of its value.

In September 2021, the company’s founder and boss, Kristo Kaarmann, was fined £365,651 by HMRC for defaulting on his tax returns.

The executive team has also seen significant turmoil after the CEO said in May that he would be taking a sabbatical between September and December to spend more time with his newborn son.

And chief financial officer Matthew Briers will step down before March next year to recover from a serious cycling accident.

CAB Payments, meanwhile, announced that its shares would start trading next week at a price of 335 pence per share.

That figure means the expected value is just shy of “unicorn” status, which is a term used for technology companies valued at £1bn or more.

The decision to go public comes after Turkish chemical company WE Soda drastically abandoned its plans to go to London this month, citing “extreme investor caution.”