By Elizabeth Howcroft and Andres Gonzalez
LONDON (Reuters) -Fintech Revolut’s revenue rose to a record 923 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in 2022, helped by interest income growth, but net profit fell sharply to 6 million pounds, the company said in delayed annual accounts on Friday.
Revolut, which ranked as the UK’s most valuable start-up with around a $33 billion valuation in 2021, has applied for a UK banking licence but is still awaiting approval.
The company had said in September it had received permission to delay filing its annual accounts for a second year running. The auditor’s report published on Friday said that it had been able to obtain sufficient evidence for 2022’s figures.
A Revolut spokesperson said the fall in net profit was due to re-investing back into the business. Revolut said it had increased spending on new product launches and global expansion, as well as doubling its headcount.
Revolut made its first full-year profit in 2021, helped by a boom in cryptocurrency trading.
“While 2021 had been a year when our Wealth unit benefited from exceptional tailwinds, which were driven by a surge of retail investing activity in crypto and equity markets, we saw this activity drop significantly in 2022 in line with general market sentiment,” interim CFO Victor Stinga said in the 2022 report.
Revolut’s 2021 accounts were also delayed and when they were finally published in March 2023, the auditor BDO LLP said at the time it was not able to independently verify three-quarters of the 636 million pounds of revenue. The warning drew scrutiny from regulators.
Revolut said its application for a UK banking licence “remains ongoing.”
Revolut’s 2022 revenue rose 45% to 923 million pounds and net profit fell to 6 million pounds, from 26 million pounds the year before.
In May, Revolut Chief Financial Officer Mikko Salovaara left the company, after two years in the role.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Edited by Andres Gonzalez, Jan Harvey and Jane Merriman)
