However, Klarna made steady progress during 2022.

Klarna, the Swedish fintech company that was once Europe’s most valuable private tech firm, has reported its largest annual loss to date in 2022, but is optimistic about its prospects for returning to profitability. The company’s annual losses increased by 47% to SEK10.4bn ($1bn) in the 12 months to December 31, 2022, up from SEK7.1bn ($680m) in the previous year.

The BNPL fintech, which saw its valuation drop by 85% to $6.7bn, also implemented two rounds of layoffs, cutting over 700 jobs in total. . (sifted)

Meanwhile, Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s total remuneration increased by 35% to SEK13.2m ($1.3m).

Klarna’s fortunes improved as the year went on, with more of its customers paying back their debts. In the fourth quarter, net losses decreased by more than half to SEK1.9bn ($182m), while credit losses decreased by 18% to SEK1.4bn ($134m).

Klarna’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased by 22% to SEK242bn ($23bn), and it now has 150 million customers worldwide. The US market became Klarna’s largest market by revenue in December 2022, with GMV growing by 71% from the same month in the previous year.

Siemiatkowski said the company is making progress towards profitability while driving growth ahead of e-commerce and reducing credit losses and costs.

Klarna last posted a profit in 2018.

Siemiatkowski had previously said that the company would potentially return to profitability in the second half of 2023. However, the company shed no further light on this matter in the annual results.

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