GoCardless has axed 20% of its staff in a bid to cut costs as it eyes full-year profitability.

The London fintech reduced its staff headcount from 764 to just over 600 in the second quarter of 2024, according to accounts filed by Companies House, as it vowed to hit profitability “within the next two years”, i.e. by June 2026.

The firm said the cuts, combined with a transfer of a number of back-office roles to an overseas subsidiary, would lead to a reduction of employee costs of £11.7m and a reduction in operating losses of £43.6m.

GoCardless reported a surge in sales, with total turnover rising 41% to £132m for the 12 months to end June 2024, a rise which the company put down to an increase in both its sales-led and self-serve channels, which grew 54% and 23% respectively. International revenue grew 47% in signs the firm’s drive to expand globally was paying off.

Total losses at the fintech were slashed by 55% compared to the previous year to £35m.

GoCardless President Paul Stoddart told UKTN the cuts were “very much part of our focus around a path to profitability.”

“A lot fintech businesses enjoyed the heady booms of the immediate post-covid years. We weren’t the first but we weren’t the last to take action around our cost base as the market started to settle down and normalise so we took a number of pretty strong actions to reduce our cost base.

“We’ve maintained that cost discipline continuing forward.”

It follows GoCardless’s acquisition of payments API business Nuapay in September 2024 for a consideration of  €13.75, plus an additional  €2.4m if certain performance targets are met.

Stoddart said the company’s time horizon for reaching profitability would mean that it did not need to raise fresh funding in the future.

“That being said, we always have had an interesting M&A agenda…we see that as being a good source of inorganic growth for us, so if we were ever to raise money again it would likely be in support of an M&A opportunity.”

He added that “at the right time, a public markets option for the business is valid.”

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