UK digital bank Monzo has posted its first full-year profit as high interest rates and a growth in subscriptions buoyed revenues.
According to its latest financial accounts released today, the UK neobank posted a pre-tax profit of £15.4m for the 12 months to the end of March this year, compared to a £116m loss the year before.
Revenues more than doubled last year, increasing to £880m (up from £355.6m the year before), partly thanks to an 84% growth in Monzo’s loan book, which generated around a quarter of its total revenue. Net transaction income grew by £60.9m to £167m, while revenue from its various subscription plans grew to £27.4m, up from £19.5m the year before.
"We're on a mission to change people's relationship with money. We've built a business model that's designed entirely around customers, and our success proves that it works," says Monzo CEO TS Anil.
Monzo has also announced plans to launch in the EU — first in Ireland, where it is opening an office.
The roadmap
Founded in 2015, Monzo is one of the UK’s largest neobanks with over 9.3m customers and £11.2bn in deposits — an increase of 88% from the year prior. It has 3,700 employees.
Earlier this year, Monzo raised $610m at a $5.2bn valuation across two funding rounds (up from $4.5bn at its previous fundraise in 2021) from investors including Alphabet’s growth fund CapitalG, Google Ventures, HongShan Capital (previously Sequoia’s Chinese arm), Passion Capital and Tencent.
Prior to reaching profitability this year, its 2023 annual results saw it double revenue to £355.6m as it tripled its lending book.
By reaching profitability, it joins Starling and Zopa Bank in the league of profitable consumer neobanks in the UK. It’s not clear yet if rival bank Revolut will report profitability in its forthcoming 2023 annual results due for release by the end of September.
Its move into the black also comes as the neobank accelerates expansion plans and increases its suite of products. The bank has recently introduced Monzo Flex, a buy now, pay later product alongside a cashback product and a mortgage tracker.
In the last year, Monzo also unveiled a stocks and shares investment product and — for subscribers — a high-interest rate account and a voucher for Greggs sausage rolls.
Next up, it plans to build out its forthcoming pension product and renew its US expansion efforts. Last year, the digital bank hired former CashApp head of product Conor Walsh to spearhead efforts stateside.
Its latest funding round is said to be its final before it pursues a public listing. With IPO markets on ice amid a lack of investor demand for fintech listings in the UK, it’s not clear when and where this will happen.
