Wise Group reports FY26 net revenue of 2.5 billion dollars, income before tax margin of 26 percent, and announces a new share buyback program exceeding 500 million dollars as active customers reach 19 million.

Key Highlights

• Wise Group reported FY26 net revenue of 2.5 billion dollars, up 19 percent year on year.

• Income before tax reached 660 million dollars, reflecting a margin of 26 percent, above the company's own 20 to 25 percent guided range.

• Active customers grew 21 percent to 19 million, processing 243 billion dollars in cross-border volume, up 31 percent.

• The average cross-border take rate declined from 58 basis points in FY25 to 52 basis points in FY26, with further quarterly reductions planned through FY27.

• Wise announced a new share repurchase program of over 500 million dollars, the largest in the company's history.

A Dual-Listed Fintech Delivering Above-Target Profitability

Wise Group plc, (NASDAQ: WSE) the global payments and money management platform, reported its full-year fiscal 2026 results on June 25, marking its first earnings presentation since completing a dual listing on Nasdaq under the ticker WSE and maintaining its existing London Stock Exchange presence. The results landed above the company's own profitability guidance and were accompanied by a capital return announcement that reinforced management's confidence in the underlying earnings trajectory.

Net revenue for the twelve months ended March 31, 2026 reached 2.5 billion dollars, a 19 percent increase over the prior year and at the upper end of the company's medium-term target of 15 to 20 percent compound annual growth. Income before tax came in at 660 million dollars, implying a margin of 26 percent against a guided range of 20 to 25 percent. The outperformance was attributed to operating leverage across the business model and the partial deferral of interest income payouts to customers in certain geographies.

Customer Growth and Volume Expansion

The period was defined by broad-based growth across Wise's principal operating metrics. Active customers rose 21 percent to 19 million, with more than 7 million new customers completing their first cross-border transaction during the year. Cross-border volume increased 31 percent to 243 billion dollars, with Wise Business and the Wise Platform segment outpacing personal customer growth in percentage terms.

Card spending reached 44 billion dollars, a 37 percent increase, while customer holdings grew 40 percent to 39 billion dollars, including 9 billion dollars held through Wise Assets, the company's yield-generating product that allows customers to earn returns tied to central bank rates. In US dollars, Wise Assets currently offers a gross yield of approximately 3.4 percent, though interest income payouts to customers remained below the company's 80 percent distribution target due to regulatory restrictions in the United Kingdom, which accounts for more than half of undistributed interest.

Revenue Composition and Take Rate Trajectory

Transaction revenue, which encompasses cross-border transfers, card activity, and domestic transactions, reached 1.9 billion dollars for the year, up 22 percent. Non-cross-border revenue sources, including card revenue and interest income, now represent approximately one-third of total transaction revenue, a structural shift that further diversifies the company's earnings base.

Interest income on customer balances totalled 806 million dollars, up 6 percent, though growth lagged the 36 percent rise in customer balances as gross yields compressed from 3.9 percent in FY25 to 3 percent in FY26, reflecting lower central bank rates across key markets.

The average cross-border take rate declined from 58 basis points in FY25 to 52 basis points in FY26, with the Q4 rate reaching 51 basis points. Management indicated that further reductions of one to two basis points per quarter are expected through FY27 as efficiency gains are passed to customers. The company has consistently framed take rate compression as a deliberate long-term investment in customer acquisition and retention rather than a margin risk.

Investment Cycle and Operating Expenditure

Operating expenses grew 39 percent to 1.9 billion dollars as the company scaled headcount, marketing, technology, and compliance functions. More than 2,000 new employees joined the business during the year, bringing the total engineering base to over 1,000 personnel deploying code approximately 6,000 times per month.

Marketing spend increased over 60 percent to 172 million dollars, with management noting early positive returns from campaigns in the United States and continued dominance of word-of-mouth customer acquisition at approximately 70 percent of new customers. Technology and development expenditure rose 38 percent to 434 million dollars. General and administrative costs increased 40 percent, partly reflecting a one-off 45 million dollar expense associated with the Nasdaq dual listing preparation.

One-off transaction expense adjustments related to foreign exchange accounting under US GAAP added approximately 70 million dollars to reported costs, though this was offset in other comprehensive income and is not expected to recur on the same basis in FY27.

Platform Business and Infrastructure Expansion

The Wise Platform business, which provides cross-border infrastructure to banks and financial institutions, accounted for approximately 5 percent of total cross-border volume in FY26, in line with management's medium-term guidance of 10 percent. New partners added during the year included UniCredit, Raiffeisen Bank, MBSB Bank in Malaysia, and Capitec in South Africa, the latter representing the company's first African institutional partnership and not yet reflected in the reported volume figures.

On infrastructure, Wise went live with direct connections to the Pix payments network in Brazil and the Zengin system in Japan, extending its real-time settlement reach. Approximately 75 percent of transfers globally were completed in under 20 seconds in Q4 FY26. New regulatory licenses were obtained in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand.

FY27 Outlook and Capital Allocation

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, management guided for net revenue growth around the midpoint of the 15 to 20 percent medium-term target range, on a constant currency basis and assuming no material change in central bank rates. Income before tax margin is expected around the top of the 20 to 25 percent range, with both revenue growth and profitability expected to be weighted toward the first half of the year due to the phasing of pricing investments and reinvestment cycles.

The company announced a new share repurchase program of over 500 million dollars, the largest in Wise's history. Approximately 40 percent will be directed toward the employee share trust program, with the remaining 60 percent used for open market treasury buybacks. This follows the 470 million dollars allocated to share purchases in FY26, which covered 35.9 million shares including a large tranche related to the settlement of historical employee share options.

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