Money transfer fintech Zepz today took a step forward to full-year profitability after it announced a boost in sales.
The City-based business, which owns the WorldRemit and SendWave brands and was valued at $5 billion in a 2021 funding round, said it had reached EBITDA profitability in 2022 and saw its net losses contract 59% to $61 million.
Total sales rose 14% to $456 million as the firm helped customers with friends and family overseas to manage more than $14 billion in transfers.
CEO Mark Lenhard told the Standard: “We’re excited about the growth we are seeing which has set up both brands for success.
“Right now we feel like we’re finding the right balance between profitability and growth. We’re only scratching the surface and we want to continue to expand and launch in new markets.”
However, earlier this year, the company laid off more than a quarter of its employees to cut costs, and in its accounts, it warned that in the event of a significant slowdown in growth, it would breach the covenants on a loan from BlackRock and would be forced to seek extra cash to keep its finances in check. Lenhard said the statement was “standard auditing language” adding that profitability would continue to improve in 2023.
Earlier this year WorldRemit began a prominent advertising campaign on the London Tube, in which it put up posters of ethnic minority customers with the caption ‘immigrant’ written underneath in bold lettering.
Lenhard said: “We’re really proud of that campaign.
“We really want to celebrate migrants and the impact they have on this country but equally the impact they have to their communities by sending money back home.”
Zepz founder Ismail Ahmed has a net worth of £117 million, according to the Evening Standard Tech Rich List.
