A surge in prospects helped fintech Revolut flip an annual revenue for the primary time in 2021, in response to a long-delayed set of outcomes from certainly one of Europe’s most dear start-ups.

The London-based firm on Wednesday reported a internet revenue of £26.3mn in 2021 in comparison with a lack of £223mn the earlier yr. Revenues in 2021 jumped to £636mn, a close to tripling from the earlier yr.

Revolut has developed from a low-fee cash switch service and gives financial institution accounts throughout Europe by its Lithuanian banking licence in addition to being registered as an e-money establishment within the UK. A funding spherical in the summertime of 2021 valued the group at $33bn and ensured it didn’t must return to the market as tech valuations crumbled final yr.

Revenues from its international alternate and wealth division, which incorporates crypto buying and selling, elevated greater than eightfold yr to nearly £350mn. The fintech first pushed into cryptocurrency buying and selling in 2017, forward of most of its rivals.

Retail prospects jumped by nearly 50 per cent to 16.4mn within the yr and the group now has greater than 27m. Revenues climbed additional in 2022, Revolut mentioned, hitting greater than £850m. The group didn’t disclose the income it made final yr.

“Our profitability in 2021 was regardless of the economic system struggling a big extended shock from international lockdowns, continued journey bans and Covid-19 results,” mentioned chief govt Nik Storonsky. “On the identical time, the accelerated shift to digital providers and distant working boosted our variety of prospects and the quantity that they used our app.”

Nevertheless, Revolut has suffered vital rising pains in its quest to problem conventional banks. Insiders have revealed a hard-charging tradition and the corporate has been hit by high-profile departures of senior compliance employees.

The group’s auditors, BDO, had been pushing the fintech to enhance its inner controls.

The accounts for the yr ending December 2021 have been required to be submitted to Firms Home in September 2022. The fintech was then given an extension till the tip of December — a deadline it has additionally failed to satisfy.

A lift for Revolut from crypto is unlikely to have been sustained final yr, when costs for a number of digital currencies plunged and FTX, one of many most-hyped gamers within the nascent trade, collapsed.