STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish payments group Klarna Bank reported on Thursday a much smaller six-month operating loss than a year earlier and said it had reached profitability on a monthly basis ahead of target.
January-June operating loss at the Swedish fast-growing, privately held “buy-now, pay-later” (BNPL) fintech, which last made a full-year profit in 2018, was 2.01 billion Swedish crowns ($185.22 million) against a year-earlier loss of 6.17 billion.
“We are marking our first month in the black in Q223,” CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in the report.
Klarna in May said it was on track to reach profitability on a monthly basis in the second half of the year.
The company last year saw business conditions deteriorate as soaring inflation and the war in Ukraine hit consumer confidence, prompting it to cut staff and sending its valuation tumbling.
($1 = 10.8520 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)
