During the year GST continued its strategic focus, started in early 2021, on developing a borderless
neobanking platform providing next-generation digital money solutions, both organically and through
complementary acquisitions. This is being undertaken under the Company's GS Money banner primarily
through the Group's GS20 Exchange and Angra Global businesses, based on three initial use-cases:
international money transfers, borderless accounts, and private stablecoin. In particular, the disposal of
EMS, completed in September 2022, removed a loss-making business from the Group and FY24 was
the first full year for GST as a 'pure play' fintech group.
During the year we completed two further significant acquisitions, PAYPT Finance Ltd ("PAYPT"), a
Canadian company holding a Canadian Money Services Business ("MSB") licence, in August 2023, and
Semnet Pte Ltd ("Semnet"), a cybersecurity company based in Singapore, in February 2024. Both these
acquisitions have added important additional capabilities and sources of revenue for the Group, which,
given the timing of the acquisitions, are not fully reflected in the FY24 financial statements.
I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the year, which has continued post period end.
Group revenues increased fivefold from the first half of the year to the second half as we established
various offerings and rolled these out commercially. Further significant growth is expected to be seen
in the current financial year and the various businesses progress and are fully consolidated into the
Group.
Angra Global
Angra Global was established during the year, in August 2023, following the completion of the
acquisition of the entire issued share capital of PAYPT, in Canada, and its combination with Angra
Limited in the UK. Angra Limited, which operates under the AngraFX brand name, is an established
Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") approved Authorised Payment Institution ("API"), conducting
fast, secure, and low-cost foreign exchange business and payment services internationally, the first pillar
of GS Money. The addition of PAYPT provided a Canadian MSB licence encompassing a range of
financial activities, including: foreign exchange dealing; cryptoasset dealing; money transfer services;
and authorisations for the issuance of debit cards and IBANs. The two businesses are now fully
integrated, with the Angra Global team being led by GST directors Christopher Wellesley and Galvin
Bai.
Following the establishment of Angra Global the focus has been on building an integrated offering,
utilising new technologies that provide attractive solutions for customers and moving away from some
of the lower margin traditional foreign exchange activities previous undertaken by Angra Limited and
PAYPT.
Angra Global's multi-currency e-wallet service, initially covering Sterling, Euro, US Dollar, Canadian
Dollar, Chinese Yuan Renminbi and US Dollar Tether Token transactions was launched on 1 September
2023 and continues to grow, with significant growth seen post the year end. This service enables Angra
Global customers to securely store their funds within Angra Global business accounts and facilitates
seamless foreign exchange conversions and fund transfers through Angra Global's established and
reliable banking partnerships, akin to a conventional business bank account. Additionally, Angra Global
is able to issue Sterling local accounts and Euro SEPA IBAN accounts to its clients, thereby providing
a comprehensive one-stop business banking solution.
Angra Global is continuing to develop these services and the Group is focused on accelerating Angra
Global's revenue, while simultaneously bolstering the Angra team to expand its B2B Neobank
operations beyond the UK, serving companies of all sizes worldwide. As part of this expansion strategy,
on 29 November 2023, the Company entered into an option to purchase agreement to acquire 60% of
the share capital of EasySend Ltd ("EasySend"), a Northern Ireland based FCA approved API,
