Finseta
fell into a loss in 2025 as the cost of expanding into Dubai, Canada and
corporate banking outran a 9% rise in revenue, ending a run of profitability
for the foreign exchange and payments firm.

The
AIM-listed company (AIM: FIN), formerly known as Cornerstone FS, reported a net
loss of £1.1 million for the year ended December 31, reversing a £1.0 million
profit in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA, the measure management leans on, fell to £0.2
million from £2.0 million.

Chief
Executive James Hickman said the company is now winning larger corporates,
citing momentum from “attracting larger corporates that have more complex
requirements.”

Finseta 2025 Loss Reflects
B2B Pivot, Margin Decline

Revenue
reached £12.4 million, up from £11.4 million, a slowdown from the 26%
underlying growth posted a year earlier. The pace was largely set in the first
half, when Finseta flagged a 16% jump in interim
revenue.

Investment Bill Tips the
Group Into the Red

Operating
expenses rose to £8.9 million from £6.3 million, which the company attributed
to planned investment in new markets and capabilities.

Finseta
said those outlays should lift sales growth and profitability over the medium
term, though it did not attach specific targets to that forecast.

Cash fell
to £1.5 million from £2.6 million, and the group ended the year with net debt
of £0.3 million, against net cash of £0.6 million a year earlier.

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After the
period closed, Finseta raised £0.9 million before expenses through a placing
and retail offer priced at 8.5 pence a share, money it earmarked partly for an
application to operate in Europe.

The
customer base offers a mixed read. Active customers reached 1,101, up from
1,059, but the company had already hit that number by mid-year, which points to
flat acquisition in the second half. Average revenue per customer rose over the
period.

Corporate Card Stumbles as
Uptake Falls Short

One product
Finseta promoted heavily during the year is now in question. The company took a
£0.2 million impairment against its corporate card after demand came in below
expectations, and it said it ran into operational problems with key suppliers
to the card program. Management is now weighing how to provide the service
going forward.

The card
also carries a separate liability. Finseta booked a £0.1 million provision tied
to €150,000 it received from a card partner to help launch the product, money
it may have to repay in 2029 if it misses transaction-volume targets the
company currently expects to miss.

Corporate Clients Now
Carry the Business

The
headline numbers mask a sharp change in who Finseta serves.

Revenue
from corporate accounts rose 54% and made up 57% of the total, up from 41% in
2024. High-net-worth individuals, historically the more profitable segment,
slipped to 43% from 59% as those clients pulled back on transactions the
company linked to tariff-related volatility in currencies.

That mix
shift explains the thinner gross margin, since corporate work pays less per
trade but tends to recur.

The B2B
tilt puts Finseta on the same ground as larger London-listed peers. Alpha Group reported a 34% revenue
jump to £86.2 million in the first half of 2025, driven by corporate clients hedging currency
risk, and is being acquired by Corpay.

Equals
Group, another AIM payments name that pivoted toward business customers, was taken private after a bidding
contest, part of a wider thinning of small-cap London fintech.

Where Alpha
and Equals built sizeable interest income on billions in client balances,
Finseta safeguarded £14.9 million of customer funds at year-end and is barred
under its e-money license from passing the interest it earns back to clients.

CAB
Payments, another 2023 London debutant, drew a $480 million unsolicited approach
from StoneX after
its shares slid, a reminder of how exposed sub-scale payments listings have
become.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

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