Remitly revenue climbs 69% to $121M in first earnings report as public company

Seattle-based financial services company Remitly issued its first earnings report since its initial public offering, reporting revenue of $121.2 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 69%.

Remitly offers a mobile platform for sending money internationally, used heavily by immigrants and their families. The company said the total volume of money sent through its system increased 61% to $5.2 billion in the quarter. Active customers rose 51% to 2.6 million.

It was “a strong start to our new chapter as a public company,” said Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer on a conference call with investors and analysts.

Remitly’s net loss widened to $13 million for the quarter, from a $2.4 million loss a year ago. The company attributed the increased loss primarily to its non-cash donation of $6.9 million in stock as part of its Pledge 1% commitment. 

Looking ahead, for the fiscal year ending in December, the company said it expects total annual revenue in the range of $445 million to $450 million. That would exceed the average of $428 million predicted by analysts prior to the new guidance.

Remitly’s stock rose more than 4% in after-hours trading, to $38/share. Remitly went public in September, valuing its stock at $43/share in its IPO. After trading as high as $48.45/share, the stock fell to $36.50/share at the end of trading Wednesday, prior to the earnings report.

Remitly generates revenue from transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads, or the difference between an exchange rate offered to customers and the exchange rate on the company’s currency purchases.

On the earnings call, Oppenheimer detailed growth initiatives including Remitly for Developers, or RFD, which offers an API to let other businesses integrate Remitly’s platform into their apps and services; and Passbook by Remitly, which offers banking services in partnership with Sunrise Banks.