The fintech company has benefited from a sharp increase in the number of customers: 12 million recruited last year, for a total of 38 million at the end of last December, and 45 million at the last count in June.
British online bank Revolut almost doubled its turnover last year to 1.8 billion pounds (2.1 billion euros), for a net profit of 344 million pounds (393 million francs), according to its annual report published on Tuesday.
The fintech company has benefited from a sharp increase in the number of customers: 12 million recruited last year, for a total of 38 million at the end of last December, and 45 million at the last count in June.
The company’s finances are improving thanks to a marked increase in the number of accounts with paid subscriptions (+41% last year) and an increase in customer deposits (+38%), very lucrative for a bank in a period of high rates.
The company also earns money from payments made with its customers’ bank cards, which are more numerous when they use it as their main bank, but also from their foreign exchange and investment transactions.
“Our customer base is growing at an impressive pace and our diversified business model continues to fuel exceptional financial performance,” said the company’s CEO Nik Storonsky in a statement.
Revolut had published a turnover of 1.1 billion euros for 2022.
After demonstrating its ability to achieve profitability in 2021 and 2022, a turning point for start-ups, the company will post a net profit multiplied by more than 50 in 2023.
Growth in France
The British neobank attaches particular importance to France.
France is now Revolut’s second largest market in terms of growth and revenue. The neobank has nearly 3.5 million customers there and is expected to reach the 4 million mark before the end of the year.
The British fintech also plans to invest 100 million euros in France over two years, in 2024 and 2025, and hopes to market real estate loans and Livret A savings accounts there next year.
It publishes a press release of its results in French and recently last month promoted a Frenchman, Antoine Le Nel, to the position of head of growth and marketing for the world.
The appetite for continental Europe, where Revolut operates through a banking license obtained in Lithuania, is to be compared with its situation in its home country, the United Kingdom.
The British regulator has still not exempted it from a banking license and has ordered it to improve its internal controls. “We remain committed to our application for a banking license in the United Kingdom,” Mr. Storonsky was quoted as saying in the statement.
The online banking market remains highly competitive in France, however, with numerous subsidiaries of traditional banks such as Boursorama (Société Générale) and Fortuneo (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa).
Delays and valuation
The publication of annual results is not a smooth ride for Revolut, which has long been late in publishing its figures, a signal generally perceived negatively by economic circles.
The company is gradually catching up: after 2021 results published in March 2023, more than a year after the end of the financial year, and 2022 results published in December of the following year, it is now presenting an income statement at the beginning of July for the year ending December 31, 2023.
It will be necessary to do things faster and more regularly if the company wants to one day comply with the rules of listed markets, at the rate of quarterly publication.
Revolut regularly leaves the door open to a possible IPO.
At what price? The last round of funding, in 2021, valued the company at $33 billion. The Financial Times last month put the figure at $40 billion, based on the sale price of shares held by employees.
