Klarna sees annual losses increase despite revenue boost

These figures come despite an increase in both its net operating income and revenues, with this going up by SKr2.8bn (£222m) and SKr3.4bn (£269m) respectively to SKr16.7bn (£1.3bn) and SKr19.3bn (£1.5bn). The firm did, however, see both its credit losses and its total operating expenses go up – increasing from SKr4.6bn (£364m) and SKr15.9bn (£1.2bn) to SKr5.7bn (£451m) and SKr21.5bn (£1.7bn). 

Despite this, the firm has said it’s on track to return to profit following improvements to its credit losses in the final two quarters of 2022, with this hitting 0.58% in the fourth quarter of 2022 – resulting in a year-on-year improvement in the quarter of 31%. 

The final quarter of 2022 also saw the value of the goods purchased through Klarna via its gross merchandise volume (GMV) grow by 19% when compared to the same period in 2021, driving an increase of 20% in revenue over the same period.  

Responding to the results, Klarna chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski said: “Through a challenging macro environment we have once again proven our resilience delivering high profitability across our established markets while launching products and services helping to diversify our revenues and solving problems for consumers.  

“With GMV up 22% year on year and credit loss rates decreasing, we have made significant progress on our new strategy and we’re on a solid path towards profitability. In December 2022 the US became our largest market by revenue, with GMV up 71% year on year, and we’re adding real value to our growing fanbase of over 150 million consumers every day.”