Zilch reportedly sounds out banks for a 2027 London IPO
Zilch reportedly sounds out banks for a 2027 London IPO after its operating loss fell to £5.147 million. The company has not confirmed the proposed float.
Zilch is reportedly sounding out banks for a London listing the trade press now places in 2027. For the year ended March 31, 2025, Zilch Holdings' operating loss was £5.147 million, down from £33.095 million. The company has not confirmed a float. FinTech Futures reported on October 1, 2026 that the London buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm is engaging banks on a London Stock Exchange (LSE) initial public offering (IPO) that "now appears pushed back to 2027 at the earliest," citing the Financial Times.
City AM, on September 30, 2026, describes a different process. Insiders there favour London for the second half of 2027 or early 2028, and talks with bankers "are set to begin over the coming weeks," even as the piece says the Financial Times had already reported discussions under way. FStech, citing that account, said banks had been invited to pitch for a float "as soon as next year." Plans could still change. PaySpace Magazine followed City AM. No company statement, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) filing or exchange notice in those reports confirms an IPO.
What the accounts actually show
The loss line is in the Zilch Holdings annual report. Revenue rose 93% to £110.3 million from £57.1 million. Loss after taxation was £10.5 million, against £50.057 million. Loss before taxation was £10.476 million, against £50.214 million. The chief financial officer (CFO) review compares the £10.5 million after-tax loss with £50.2 million, then calls it 79% lower than the prior year's £50.1 million. FinTech Futures used £50.2 million. FStech, via the Financial Times, rounded the prior year to £50 million. The narrowing is shared. The line is not.
Gross profit rose 143% to £54.5 million, and the margin widened to 49% from 39%. Take rate, revenue relative to gross merchandise value (GMV) net of returns, rose to 6.08% from 5.44%. GMV grew 73% to £1,893 million. Provisions for credit losses rose 116% to £27.378 million, and credit losses were 1.5% of GMV, up from 1.2%. Chief Executive Philip Belamant wrote that July 2024 was the first quarter of operating profit. FStech's sources said Zilch wants to be profitable before a listing. One quarter inside a loss-making year does not meet that test.
Rivals took licences and stayed quiet
City AM said insiders want distance from the BNPL label after Klarna's value fell following its IPO last September. Klarna has applied for a US industrial-bank charter to leave WebBank, covered in Klarna's charter filing. Riverty opened a Luxembourg bank, the European twin of that move, set out in how BNPL firms are chasing charters. FinTech Futures reported Zilch's step as an FCA payments-services licence in December 2025 and, the next month, a deal for Lithuania's Fjord Bank, expected to close later in 2026. A permission is not a float, any more than Brite Payments' FCA licence was. See the fintech desk. None of this week's reports quotes Klarna or the exchange.
What Belamant has put in writing
In the annual report, Philip Belamant, chief executive, wrote of "paving the way for a successful public listing." That names no venue, year or bank. A Zilch spokesperson told FinTech Futures, and City AM carried it: "After a transformative 12 months for the business, we are fully focused on executing our strategy which is delivering impressive growth, with all strategic options remaining open."
In 2024 he told City AM a London float would need "pension funds investing in high-growth British companies" and "incentives for retail investors to buy and hold British stocks." He added: "If this all happens, I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to list on the LSE… if it doesn't happen then we have to take the appropriate decision and that might be to go somewhere else." City AM said he told it last year that a $2 billion valuation held through a 2025 round of £134 million. FStech and FinTech Futures, citing people familiar with the talks, doubt a listing clears that 2021 peak.
What has to happen next
FinTech Futures put a November 2025 raise above $175 million of debt and equity. The annual report says a Deutsche Bank-led securitisation in June 2024 tripled committed capacity to £150 million. FinTech Futures called that facility £100 million. The report's 2025 history shows five million registered customers. FStech, on September 30, 2026, said nearly six million.
City AM said the next results are due within weeks. If the operating loss stays near £5.1 million while provisions rise faster than GMV, a $2 billion print is what the sources already doubt, and a late-2027 or early-2028 London window still depends on those 2024 conditions. Until Zilch, the FCA or the exchange confirms a listing, the IPO is what the October 1 report already called it: reportedly under discussion, and not a deal.
Reporting by Rick Steves. Filed 2 October 2026, 16:16 GMT.
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011.
