One of the UK’s leading Fintech firms is planning to shift its primary listing to the US, yet another blow for London’s public equity markets.

The move was announced alongside results for the financial year ended 31 March 2025, in which Wise grew its revenue by 15% and profit for the period by 18%.

Their decision to move their primary listing to the US is particularly painful because Wise is one of the very few UK Fintech giants that have decided to list on London’s exchange, while many choose to remain private. Some, including Revolut, have expressed a desire to IPO in New York.

For Wise to upsticks and move their primary listing to the US puts a massive dent in London’s efforts to bolster its reputation as a centre for fast-growing companies.

Has Wise outgrown London? Probably not. However, it sees the US as an important part of the next leg of its growth strategy as customer numbers rise and profits increase.

“Our growth over the past financial year is a testament to the team’s laser focus on our vision to build money without borders. We moved £145.2 billion across borders for 15.6 million people and businesses, a 23% increase compared to last year,” said Kristo Käärmann, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

“This growth has been generated by the investments we’ve made in our underlying infrastructure, delivering lower fees and faster speeds for our customers: we reduced our take rate by 14bps over the year, to 53bps in Q4 FY2025. More customers also benefited from instant payments, with approximately 65% of transactions being completed in under 20 seconds.”

Käärman continued to explain their ambitions for global expansion and plan to grow their share of a ‘c.£32 trillion market opportunity’ in money transfers. The company sees shifting its primary listing to the US as a vital part of this strategy.

“As part of our next step on that journey, today we are announcing our intention to dual list our shares in the US and UK. We believe the addition of a primary US listing would help us accelerate our mission and bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits to Wise and our Owners.

“These include helping us drive greater awareness of Wise in the US, the biggest market opportunity in the world for our products today, and enabling better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market. A dual listing would also enable us to continue serving our UK-based Owners effectively, as part of our ongoing commitment to the UK. The UK is home to some of the best talent in the world in financial services and technology, and we will continue to invest in our presence here to fuel our UK and global growth.”

GenIP released its maiden annual results on Wednesday, revealing the costs related to its AIM IPO, early sales traction and its cash position at the end of 2024.

Like many early-stage companies, GenIP’s prior years’ results are a very poor guide to where the company is now. Especially when GenIP was established that year, and it only started trading towards the end of the third quarter. 

Early-stage investors tend to be more concerned about where new ventures are going rather than the initial months of trading.

In that regard, CEO Melissa Cruz’s comments attached to the release offer the most insight into the momentum the company is building:

“GenIP has made strong progress in the short time since incorporation in February 2024 and listing in October 2024. The Company has secured multiple new orders and contracts for delivery in 2025 and cultivated strong relationships within the technology transfer and innovation community, paving the way for sustained growth,” said Cruz said.

“The introduction of Generative AI-enhanced products and services in September 2024 established a firm base for GenIP’s strategy to drive revenue growth and create lasting value for stakeholders.

“With several strategic initiatives underway, GenIP is well positioned for expansion and success. As we broaden our global presence and integrate more advanced Generative AI analytics into our services, these enhancements strengthen our offerings.”

Since the end of the period, GenIP has won at least two contracts totalling $415,000, expanded into Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and launched a new product.

GenIP operates a model that is supported by cash flows for orders that are then later recorded as revenues when services are delivered.

We don’t know what the order book currently looks like in pounds and pence. But we do know that the company has closed deals worth at least $400,000 since the start of the year. 

This covers two announced orders with monetary values attached. There have been several other orders and contracts announced with no value attached.

Assuming there are additional orders secured in the natural course of business, a sensible estimate of the cash inflows so far this year would be in the region of $400,000 – $500,000.

This may not necessarily translate into revenue for the period, as order delivery and therefore revenue is driven by customer demand for orders, which could be months after the order is made.

That said, even if last year’s cost base were replicated this year, operating cash flow would be fairly steady. 

It’s worth noting that last year’s costs included non-cash share payments related to the IPO, which are likely to fall. Although more information is required to make an accurate assessment, the announcements of orders and indications of costs available to the market suggest the cash position should be fairly consistent with the beginning of the year. 

Whether GenIP makes a net profit this year isn’t clear – the market will need to see more in the half-year report. What is clear is that progress in 2025 materially outstrips the numbers found in GenIP’s 2024 results.

Defence and space technology firm Voyager Technologies has announced the commencement of its roadshow for a proposed initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company expects to price shares between $26.00 and $29.00 each and is expected to receive approval for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “VOYG”, subject to notice of issuance.

A succesful IPO could value Voyager at $1.6bn.

Voyager describes itself as a national security and space solutions company delivering mission-critical technologies. The firm serves over 500 customers across 35-plus nations and has flown more than 1,240 customer missions to space stations.

The company is the leader of the Starlab joint venture, designed to expand human presence in low-orbit space. Voyager has partnered with Airbus to push the project forward.

The firm intends to deploy net proceeds primarily towards strategic growth initiatives, including investment in research and development programmes and acquisition of capital assets supporting its long-term innovation roadmap. A portion of proceeds may also fund potential mergers and acquisitions within Voyager’s core business areas.

The remaining funds will support general working capital and corporate purposes, including debt repayment, administrative expenses, system improvements, and operational requirements.

The FTSE 100 approached an all-time high on Wednesday as London’s defence shares helped the index shake off ongoing tat-for-tit US/China trade negotiations.

At 8,811, London’s leading index was less than 1% away from all-time closing highs at 8,871 at the time of writing.

“UK markets have made another step in the right direction this morning, albeit a small one. The FTSE 100 opened a smidge higher, as investors look eager to shrug off US trade drama. It’s perhaps a signal that markets have moved on from reacting to every new development,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Although it’s too early to dismiss Trump’s trade war as noise, UK markets have certainly taken recent developments in their stride and found positive stories closer to home. Even US markets are taking less and less notice of Trump’s trade policies.

While the need to increase defence spending shouldn’t be seen as a positive, investors in defence stocks are feeling the benefits of the UK’s plans to boost defence spending. Babcock was back at the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard as optimism around the defence contractor built amid the plans to bolster our submarine fleet. Babcock shares are now 110% higher in 2025.

A strong showing from miners Antofagasta and Glencore helped support the index, which was surprising given deteriorating Chinese data and further headlines about a US/China trade deal.

“All eyes are on China given it is currently the biggest loser from Trump’s new trade policy, and it looks like we’re still some way off from a deal between the two countries, AJ Bell’s Russ Mould explained.

“Trump made comments on social media that imply China’s President Xi Jinping is a tough cookie with regards to making a deal. A potential stalemate situation means uncertainty prevails on the markets and asset prices remain volatile.”

The stalemate Mould mentions is, of course, a concern, but traders are preferring to sit back and hope the ‘TACO’ trade continues.

There is a risk of complacency creeping into markets with the very real threat of an economic slowdown due to Trump’s tariffs not going away. For now, at least, traders are happy to digest data as it’s released.

B&M European Value shares were lower on Wednesday after the discount retailer announced preliminary results that highlighted the impact of increased competition and rising finance costs.

Although group revenue increased 3.7%, the higher sales were a result of new store openings as opposed to shoppers boosting their spend. B&M UK like-for-like sales dropped 3.1%.

This will be a concern for B&M investors given that the discounter relies heavily on volume and the company says its long term growth strategy is based around like-for-like growth in the UK. 

B&M pointed to disappointing FMCG sales and the timing of Easter as a key factor behind falling sales.

The company relies heavily on lower-income groups to support sales, and this customer base, unfortunately, is feeling the hit from the cost-of-living crisis the most. 

Group profit before tax fell 13% to £431m as higher interest and finance costs weighed on profitability.

B&M shares were down 6% at the time of writing. 

Adam Vettese, market analyst for eToro, summarises the issues facing B&M perfectly:

“B&M is continuing to feel the pressure of the tougher consumer environment, as profits have dipped by a little over 13%, accompanied by a negative like-for-like sales trend of -3.6%. B&M offers consumers familiar brands at low prices but now also face stiff competition from other discounters, with multiple retailers competing hard for less disposable income out there under current macroeconomic conditions. 

“The company can show revenue numbers which are growing, but this is coming primarily from stores that have just opened, which will get that initial surge in sales as shoppers flock to see what’s new in their area. This in itself can be papering over the cracks of the wider issues of margins, and profit coming under more pressure. 

“Shares have been on a downward trajectory since the beginning of last year and are worth a little over half of what they were then. B&M may need to see consistency come back into their store network as a whole to convince investors of a turn around.”

The FTSE 100 dipped in early trade on Tuesday with traders choosing not to push the index above the 8,800 level amid concerns around China’s economy, global growth and the ongoing trade tensions.

London’s leading index was up 0.1% at the time of writing, having recovered early losses.

“European equity markets struggled to find direction early on Tuesday, with investors still showing signs of nervousness around tariffs and the economic outlook,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

The FTSE 100 succumbed to selling across the natural resources sectors with the US/China spat rumbling on and poor Chinese economic data weighing on markets.

Names such as Rio Tinto, Anglo American, and Glencore were among those that were most heavily hit on Tuesday.

China’s manufacturing sector is showing signs of slowing, with PMIs dropping as a result of US tariffs. This isn’t good news for metals demand dynamics. 

We’re starting to see the first signs of poor economic data resulting from Trump’s tariffs, and slowing economies due to US trade policy will likely be the next big test for equities after a rip-roaring rally from recent lows.

“The OECD has downgraded its forecast for global economic growth as the effects of the trade war start to be felt. It’s only a small revision – from 3.1% to 2.9% for 2025 – but it’s still enough to cause investors some digestion as they consume their morning news. The downgrade weighed on the mining sector as the market fears it could mean reduced demand for commodities, and therefore a potential knock to the price of metals and minerals,” Russ Mould explained.

“The 90-day pause on tariffs has just over a month before expiration, meaning the pressure is on countries to do deals with the Trump administration. Reports suggest that Trump wants best offers on trade negotiations by Wednesday, perhaps to avoid any last-minute rush or stalemate situations.”

Trump’s actions have aptly led to the coining of the term ‘TACO’ ( Trump Always Chickens Out) among traders for his hesitancy to follow through on tariffs, but it’s the uncertainty for businesses around potential tariffs that is leading to economic disruption.

Although the index turned positive, there was a risk-off tone to trade with the FTSE 100 being supported by more defensive safe haven names such as Centrica, BAE Systems, and Fresnillo.

Babcock was still feeling the benefits of the government decision to upgrade its nuclear submarine fleet. Shares rose 2%.