Wise Revenue Breakdown & Fiscal Growth

Wise's financial trajectory from 2017 to 2025 is one of the most compelling in fintech: consistent profitability achieved at scale, delivered by a company that has simultaneously been reducing prices every year. That combination — profitable and price-cutting — is nearly unique in the sector and reflects the operational leverage inherent in the platform model. The company first achieved profitability in FY2017, six years after founding — a milestone that coincided with monthly transfer volumes crossing £1 billion. Profitability at that stage was meaningful: the business was not burning cash to grow, but generating genuine economic surplus. In the years that followed, revenue growth compounded at 30%+ annually while the company maintained positive operating margins, demonstrating that the unit economics were sound and scalable. By FY2021, the year of the London Stock Exchange listing, Wise's annual revenue stood at approximately £421 million. The direct listing itself was financially disciplined — no new shares were sold, no underwriter discounts were paid, and the company's existing shareholders received liquidity at market-determined prices. This approach, rare for a company of Wise's profile, was consistent with the cultural commitment to eliminating unnecessary fees. FY2022 marked the first full year as a public company, with revenue reaching £560 million. FY2023 saw significant acceleration to £846 million, driven by the combined effect of customer base expansion, increased card adoption, and the rising interest rate environment boosting balance income. FY2024 delivered £1.05 billion — the first billion-pound revenue year — representing 24% growth and confirming that Wise had reached self-sustaining commercial scale. FY2025 revenue reached £1.2 billion, with underlying gross profit of £1.025 billion and a gross profit margin of 75%. Underlying gross profit grew 20% year-on-year, reflecting both volume growth and expanding margin efficiency. Administrative expenses grew 25% to £768.6 million, reflecting deliberate investment in headcount, technology infrastructure, and regulatory compliance across new markets. The company's underlying profit before tax margin for H1 FY2025 was 22%, above the stated medium-term guidance range of 13–16% — a range that management has set deliberately conservatively to accommodate continued investment in price reduction and geographic expansion. The balance sheet position is structurally robust. Customer balances — funds held on behalf of users in segregated accounts — reached £13.3 billion in FY2024. These are not Wise's funds, but their scale illustrates the trust customers have placed in the platform and the float income they generate. Wise's own regulatory capital and liquidity positions comfortably exceed requirements across all jurisdictions. Transfer volume metrics provide the clearest indication of operating leverage. In FY2024, £118.5 billion of cross-border volume was processed — up 13.4% year-on-year. Revenue grew 24% on 13.4% volume growth, meaning revenue per unit of volume increased as product mix shifted toward higher-margin services like card spending and balance interest. This pattern — volume growth driving disproportionate revenue growth — is the hallmark of a maturing platform business that is gaining wallet share with existing customers even as it acquires new ones. The decision to reduce take rates by over 9 basis points in FY2025 reflects management's long-run strategic logic: lower prices today compress near-term margins but drive customer acquisition, retention, and volume — each of which compounds future revenue. This philosophy is quantified in the company's own impact reporting, which estimated that Wise saved its customers £2 billion in fees in FY2025 compared with what they would have paid using traditional banks. That £2 billion of customer savings is simultaneously a measure of the company's social impact and a measure of the competitive pressure it exerts on banks — making both dimensions important to the investment thesis.