OPay's US IPO Filing Shows Revenue More Than Doubled

TL;DR: Reuters reported on October 9 that OPay, an Africa-focused digital payments company, revealed in its US initial public offering filing that revenue more than doubled to $467.1 million in the first six months of the year, with net income of $90.9 million. The filing is a Form F-1, lodged with the SEC on October 9, 2026 by OPay Limited, a Cayman Islands company with its principal offices in Singapore.

What did OPay's filing actually disclose?

According to Reuters, net income rose to $90.9 million from $21.7 million a year earlier, and revenue climbed to $467.1 million from $197.5 million in the six months ended June 30. The company also applied to list American depositary shares on the NYSE under the symbol OPAY, and it plans a secondary listing in Nigeria afterward.

Measure	Six months to June 30, 2026	Six months to June 30, 2025
Revenue	$467.1 million	$197.5 million
Net income	$90.9 million	$21.7 million

Those are Reuters' figures from the filing. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and CICC are among the underwriters.

Who owns OPay, and who is putting money in alongside the IPO?

Reuters says the company was founded by Chinese billionaire Yahui Zhou and raised $400 million at a $2 billion valuation in 2021. SoftBank entities own 6.6% before the offering, per the filing. Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited has agreed to invest as much as $200 million in a concurrent private placement.

That placement matters more than the SoftBank stake. An anchor buyer with a stated ceiling gives the book a floor of demand, which is why Finimize argued it "could steady OPay's debut." That is one analyst's reading, not a guarantee of how the shares trade.

What is underneath the headline growth?

Downside first. According to Bullished, which read the F-1, Nigeria produced 89.5% of first-half revenue, and loan financing was the largest line at $236.1 million. The provision for expected credit losses was $118.4 million, against $38.1 million a year earlier. That provision more than tripled.

This is a lending business as much as a payments business, and lending growth cuts both ways. Loans and interest receivable rose from $196.1 million at the end of 2025 to $324.9 million at June 30, according to Bullished, which means the company is lending faster than the loan book has had time to prove itself. That is more money out the door that has to come back.

Bullished's summary of the risk factors says the business is concentrated in Nigeria, where the naira is not freely convertible and was devalued in 2023. For a dollar-based investor, that is a currency risk sitting on top of an operating risk.

Why does this matter if I am not buying on day one?

Because the filing lands in a hard market. Reuters notes that surging bond yields and elevated interest rates are dampening appetite for new listings and prompting several companies to delay their flotation plans. A company that files anyway, with profits and an anchor investor, is telling you how it sees the window.

If you hold private shares in a growth company, or you are weighing a pre-IPO fund, watch how this one prices. A listing that clears at a sensible valuation can help late-stage holders find an exit. A pulled or discounted deal is the opposite signal. For more on how filings change exit timing, see my piece on the SEC's semi-annual reporting rule and IPO exits. For another filing worth reading closely, try Anthropic's leaked IPO prospectus. And if you are weighing the fund route, here is how a pre-IPO mid-cap alternative investment fund strategy works.

Common mistakes when reading an IPO filing

The first is anchoring on growth. Revenue doubling tells you the company is bigger, not that the shares are worth buying, and the price has not even been set. A later amendment should fill in the price range and offering size, and until then the only fixed number is Stanbic's $200 million ceiling, per Bullished.

The second is skipping the balance sheet. Bullished reports a shareholders' deficit of $682.5 million at June 30, with $1.06 billion of mezzanine equity. Those two lines shape what common shareholders actually own.

The third is trusting a repeated number. Several sites carry Reuters' figures, and each copy is one step further from the source, so go to the wire or the filing itself.

FAQ

Is OPay profitable? Per Reuters, net income was $90.9 million in the six months ended June 30, against $21.7 million a year earlier. Bullished's read of the F-1 shows 2024 ended in a $50.8 million loss, so profitability is recent.

Where will OPay list? OPay has applied to list American depositary shares on the NYSE under the symbol OPAY. Reuters says it plans a secondary listing in Nigeria after the NYSE listing is complete.

Who is Stanbic investing alongside the IPO? Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited has agreed to invest as much as $200 million in a concurrent private placement, according to Reuters. The final amount depends on the offering terms, which are not yet public.

Can I buy shares at the IPO price? Not yet, and no price exists. Allocation at the offering price usually goes through the underwriters' own clients, so most individuals buy once trading starts. That is a different price from the one institutions pay.

What to do next

When OPay files its amended F-1 with a price range, open it and read the use of proceeds and the credit-loss note before you read any headline. Sign up free for the AIN Briefing and I will flag the amendment when it lands.

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