Wise PLC (LSE:WISE) is joining the 'brain drain' after it said it would move its primary listing to the US in another blow to London's status as a market for global growth stocks.
Worries over liquidity, lack of capital depth, and UK investors' inability to properly value next-generation tech businesses have seen a slew of companies turn their backs on the City.
The shares rose 12% after the announcement to 1,214p.
The news broke after Wise reported a 23% rise in cross-border transaction volume to £145.2 billion for the year to 31 March 2025, driving profit before tax up 17% to £565 million.
The payments firm, in its full-year results statement, told investors that the number of its active customers grew by 21% to 15.6 million.
"Our growth over the past financial year is a testament to the team's laser focus on our vision to build money without borders," said co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann.
"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."
Käärmann, meanwhile, noted a loyalty to the UK, alongside the plan to reach US investors.
"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," he added.
Wise said it will maintain a secondary LSE listing.