Nikolay Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut.
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Financial technology giant Revolut reported its first-ever full-year profit in 2021, according to financial accounts released Wednesday, as subscriptions to its paid plans and overall usage of its app surged.
The company reported revenue of £636.2 million ($767.1 million) for the year, three times what it made the previous year, and achieved pre-tax profit of 59. £1 million. In 2020, Revolut posted a pre-tax loss of £205m.
Revolut’s announcement is rare positive news in a fintech market that has been plagued by mass layoffs and huge valuation drops as investors re-evaluate the space amid deteriorating macroeconomic conditions.
Klarna, the Swedish buy now, pay later fintech, saw its valuation plunge 85% to $6.7 billion last year. On Tuesday, the firm released a $1 billion record loss in its 2022 fiscal year.
For 2022, Revolut gave a business update saying it expects revenue to have grown by more than 30% to £850m, citing a diversified business model. As a private company, it is not required to share frequent quarterly reports.
However, Revolut was late in filing its accounts with the UK companies registry, Companies House, in time for the December 31 deadline. They were finally signed by BDO, Revolut’s auditors, last month.
Revolution would have faced concerns UK regulators on the strength of its internal financial controls. In September, BDO’s audit of Revolut’s 2021 accounts was deemed “inadequate” by the Financial Reporting Council, which said the “risk of undetected material misstatement was unacceptably high”.
The company, which has no physical branches, offers digital banking, money transfers, cryptocurrencies and stock trading through a single app. It rivals the likes of WiseMonzo and Starling.
Founded in 2015 by former Lehman Brothers trader Nikolay Storonsky and software developer Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut has quickly grown to become one of Europe’s biggest fintech unicorns, with a valuation of $33 billion.
Revolut has been pushing hard in overseas markets, especially in the United States, where it currently has over 500,000 customers. The company has also opened operations in Brazil, Mexico and India. In November, Revolut announced that it had 25 million users worldwide.
Closer to home, however, the company’s growth plans have suffered some setbacks. Revolut has been seeking a UK banking license for two years, with the aim of making more of its income from the lending business.
This process has been long and the wait is believed to be related to delays in releasing Revolut results. Revolut has also come under criticism over an aggressive work culture, which has allegedly led to departures of key regulatory and compliance executives.
