Zilch grew revenue 36% to £147.5m in the year to March 2026, while pre-tax losses rose from £12.5m to £35.9m. The London lender now reports an annual run rate of $300m (£224m) as banks are reportedly lined up for a listing as early as next year.
Zilch began as a buy-now-pay-later provider. It now offers loans, a BNPL product and a debit card, and earns its money from fees and from advertiser subsidies on its services. Its last priced round, in 2021, valued the company at $2bn. Goldman Sachs and eBay are both investors.
The new accounts cover the 2026 financial year, which ended in March. Revenue reached £147.5m, compared with roughly £108m a year earlier, as customers spent more through their accounts.
Gross merchandise value, meaning the total value of goods bought through the platform, rose 28% to £2.4bn. Active users increased 21% to 970,000, and average annual spend per active customer rose 6% to £2,500.
Where the money went
Revenue grew quickly, but losses grew faster. Zilch said the bigger loss came from three things: customer acquisition, brand-building, and a larger credit loss provision as the book moved towards longer-term loans.
The longer loans are the key point for analysts. A business that mainly took fees on short-term BNPL is becoming a lender that holds more balance-sheet risk. Higher provisions are the accounting cost of that change, and future investors will look at them closely.
Philip Belamant, co-founder and chief executive, called FY26 a "foundational" year. He said the company had invested in products, technology and infrastructure ahead of its next phase of expansion. He added that Zilch had since reached a $300m annual run rate and posted two consecutive quarters of adjusted profit before tax.
The cap-table question
The figures matter most for the IPO. Zilch is reportedly lining up investment banks for a float that could come as early as next year. Its 2021 investors bought in at the $2bn mark set during the peak of fintech valuations.
A $300m run rate is about double the reported FY26 revenue. If it holds, it would support the company's argument that it has grown into, or beyond, that valuation. The heavier credit provisioning and the near-tripling of losses give public-market investors reasons to question the price.
No new primary funding was announced with the results, and Zilch has not said how much it might raise in a listing. The company recently committed £77m to a new London headquarters with room for more than 400 staff, which shows how far it is planning to scale.
The next data point will be whether the two quarters of adjusted profit continue into the current financial year. That will help decide whether the float goes ahead and at what valuation.
Original source: Tech.eu — https://tech.eu/2026/11/05/zilch-sees-revenues-uplift-but-losses-increase/
