Shares of Wise PLC (WISE) declined more than 7% in London trading as the company reported quarterly revenue that fell short of analyst expectations.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, revenue increased by 24% to £277.2 million, culminating in a full-year revenue of £1.05 billion, which was 1% below the consensus estimates.
Despite a 14% increase in transaction volume during the quarter, reaching £30.6 billion, this figure was still below the anticipated £32.12 billion.
The customer count was slightly lower than expected, at 7.91 million versus the forecast of 7.92 million. Meanwhile, the take rate matched the forecast at 0.91%.
Income for fiscal 2024 surged 46%, supported by a favorable rate environment, surpassing the guidance of 42% to 44% annual growth.
Income in the fourth quarter alone rose by 36% year-over-year to £381.2 million, which is around 1% higher than consensus estimates.
Wise also reported that its adjusted EBITDA margins remained exceptionally high, continuing to exceed its medium-term guidance of at least 20%.
“We note that this dynamic is already well captured by consensus and therefore we expect limited upgrades on the back of this release,” Morgan Stanley analysts commented.
“Given the slightly weaker volume trends in 4Q24, we expect the shares to slightly underperform this morning,” they wrote in a Tuesday note.
The company said growing income and reduced transaction costs are expected to elevate the gross profit margin for the second half of the year above the 74% recorded in the first half.
In their own note, Jefferies analysts said the Q4 report was “a mixed bag,” although they believe that healthy customer growth “will boost confidence in FY25E customer growth while Other Revenues were called out to have seen higher usage of Wise cards along with users using multiple features corroborating our thesis around increased neo-banking activities.”