- CAB Payments is understood to be letting go of 80 staff, mostly in the UK
- The firm intends to undertake this restructuring during the first quarter
CAB Payments has revealed plans to slash its workforce by a fifth and invest in artificial intelligence to keep costs down.
The fintech group’s shares have lost around 80 per cent of their value since listing on the London Stock Exchange in July 2023, amid profit warnings and the departure of its chief executive.
CAB told shareholders on Thursday that it expects the savings from job cuts will offset the ‘annualisation of strategic hires’ made last year, as well as inflation and national insurance rates.
From April, employers will pay NI contributions of 15 per cent on staff salaries above £5,000, up from the current 13.8 per cent rate on wages exceeding £9,100.
Many British businesses have responded to the incoming tax hike by taking pre-emptive action to reduce personnel or scale back hiring plans.
CAB is understood to be letting go of 80 staff, with most of those affected based in the UK, while also investing in automation and artificial intelligence.
The Southwark-based firm intends to undertake this restructuring during the first quarter of 2025.
Redundancies: CAB’s chief executive, Neeraj Kapur (pictured), said the firm ‘will see a number of colleagues who have been part of our journey departing from our group’
Neeraj Kapur, chief executive of CAB, said: ‘As part of the increased focus on performance, we are taking significant steps to re-align the cost base to our strategic growth plans; meaning we can do more with less.
‘As a result, we will see a number of colleagues who have been part of our journey departing from our group.’
CAB, the holding company for Crown Agents Bank, specialises in offering payments and foreign exchange services.
Its total trading volumes increased by £3.4billion to £37.6billion last year, with all growth driven by developed markets.
However, the London-listed firm saw demand for cross-border payments impacted by a stronger dollar, lower aid flows and political uncertainty.
Its take rate – the percentage it collects as commission from a transaction – almost halved from 0.26 per cent to 0.14 per cent due to lower demand for US dollars in certain markets and market volatility abating across emerging currencies.
As a result, the group expects to report gross income of around £105million for 2024, compared to £137million for the previous year.
Kapur added: ‘CAB’s fundamental business model remains robust, based on strong emerging markets connectivity; our market share is increasing, and we are seen as experts in what we do.
‘We are now focused on driving growth in volumes, but more importantly, take-rates and operational leverage, which is where our banking business becomes a key driver.’
American payments firm Stone X entered talks last year regarding a possible takeover of CAB, whose value has plummeted since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2023.
StoneX reportedly made multiple offers, including one valuing CAB at £368.5million, before walking away in November.
CAB Payments Holdings shares were 2 per cent down at 65.25p, taking their losses over the past six months to approximately 43 per cent.
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