Payments firm Klarna posts $1 billion full-year loss but eyes return to profit

Swedish payments radical Klarna aims to instrumentality to nett by the summer, the "buy-now, pay-later" institution said connected Tuesday, arsenic it reported wider losses for 2022 but an improving show successful the 4th quarter.

Klarna posted a full-year operating nonaccomplishment of 10.5 cardinal crowns ($1 billion) against 6.6 cardinal crowns successful 2021. Gross merchandise measurement (GMV) - the worth of goods purchased done Klarna - was up 22% and gross maturation was 19%.

The fast-growing, privately held fintech saw concern conditions deteriorate past twelvemonth arsenic user assurance was deed by soaring ostentation and the warfare successful Ukraine, sending its valuation tumbling.

In May, it said it was cutting 10% of its workforce to rein successful costs, and successful July it raised $800 cardinal successful caller financing.

In the 4th quarter, however, Klarna's operating nonaccomplishment shrank to 2.0 cardinal crowns from 3.5 cardinal the twelvemonth before, with GMV up 19%, the institution said successful its yearly study connected Tuesday.

Klarna said the United States became its largest marketplace by gross successful December, and the radical aimed to instrumentality to profitability by summer.

"The U.S. and the UK is increasing astatine a precise precocious pace, pushing up the mean maturation fig for the full company," Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters.

Siemiatkowski said radical maturation could accelerate further connected the backmost of the precocious maturation rates successful those 2 countries. Britain is its third-biggest market.

The CEO said further occupation losses of the magnitude of those announced successful May were not connected the cards.

Rival Affirm Holdings Inc this period announced it would chopped 19% of its workforce.

Klarna past made a full-year nett successful 2018.