Wise logo displayed on smartphone screen.
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wise On Wednesday, profit rose 55% in the first half of fiscal 2025 on customer growth and market share expansion.
The British digital payments company said its first-half profits totaled 217.3 million pounds, up from 140.6 million pounds in the same period last year.
This was due to a 25% increase in active customers, with Wise reporting a total of 11.4 million consumer and business customers.
Wise reported on Wednesday that the money transfer platform’s revenue increased 19% year-on-year during the period to 591.9 million pounds.
Wise shares soared 8% shortly after London stock markets opened on Wednesday, Adding to Tuesday’s gains Working with Standard Chartered Bank to support the bank’s cross-border payment services for retail customers. The stock was last up 6% as of 8:15am London time.
Wise issued a sales warning earlier this year, sending shares in the British online payments company down 21%.
Back in June, Wise said it expected underlying revenue growth of 15-20% year-over-year in fiscal 2025, well below the 31% growth achieved in the 12 months to March 2024.
Following a series of price cuts, guidance became more dovish.
Last month, Wise reported second-quarter 2024 underlying revenue growth of 17%.
The company also said it expected to achieve mid-term pre-tax margins (PBT) of 13% to 16%, reiterating previous June guidance and that it would not have to make “further material investments in lower pricing” in the second half.
On Wednesday, Wise said its first-half underlying PBT margin was 22%, above its target range of 13% to 16%.
However, the company added that investments in lower pricing will bring that margin down to a level closer to the target range for the second half of fiscal 2025.
Last week, Wise billionaire CEO and co-founder Kristo Käärmann Fined £350,000 by UK Financial Conduct Authority Failure to report problems with their tax returns.