{"id":26313,"date":"2024-08-27T20:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/108025934"},"modified":"2024-08-27T20:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T20:00:10","slug":"buy-now-pay-later-firm-klarna-swings-to-first-half-profit-ahead-of-ipo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/buy-now-pay-later-firm-klarna-swings-to-first-half-profit-ahead-of-ipo\/","title":{"rendered":"Buy now, pay later firm Klarna swings to first-half profit ahead of IPO"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/buy-now-pay-later-firm-klarna-swings-to-first-half-profit-ahead-of-ipo.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-106976602\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Buy-now, pay-later&#8221; firm Klarna aims to return to profit by summer 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Klarna said it posted a profit in the first half of the year, swinging into the black from a loss last year as the buy now, pay later pioneer edges closer toward its hotly anticipated stock market debut.<\/p>\n<p>In results published Tuesday, Klarna said that it made an adjusted operating profit of 673 million Swedish krona ($66.1 million) in the six months through June 2024, up from a loss of 456 million krona in the same period a year ago. Revenue, meanwhile, grew 27% year-on-year to 13.3 billion krona.<\/p>\n<p>On a net income basis, Klarna reported a 333 million Swedish krona loss. However, Klarna cites adjusted operating income as its primary metric for profitability as it better reflects &#8220;underlying business activity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Klarna is one of the biggest players in the so-called buy now, pay later sector. Alongside peers <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-1\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">PayPal<\/span><span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-2\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">Block<\/span><span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>&#8216;s Afterpay, and <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-3\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">Affirm<\/span><span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, these companies give consumers the option to pay for purchases via interest-free monthly installments, with merchants covering the cost of service via transa<em>c<\/em>tion fees.<\/p>\n<p>Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna&#8217;s CEO and co-founder, said the company saw strong revenue growth in the U.S. in particular, where sales jumped 38% thanks to a ramp-up in merchant onboarding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>&#8220;Klarna&#8217;s massive global network continues to expand rapidly, with millions of new consumers joining and 68k new merchant partners,&#8221; Siemiatkowski said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Using AI to cut costs<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>The company achieved its adjusted operating profit &#8220;by focusing on sustainable, profitable growth and leveraging AI to lower costs,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Klarna has been one of the forerunners in the corporate world when it comes to touting the benefits of using AI to increase productivity and cut operating costs.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the company said that its average revenue per employee over the previous twelve months increased 73% year-over-year, to 7 million Swedish krona.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as Klarna tries to pitch itself as a primary banking provider for clients as it approaches a much-anticipated initial public offering.<\/p>\n<p>The firm earlier this month <span class=\"waslinkname\">launched its own checking account-like product<\/span>, called Klarna balance, in a bid to persuade consumers to move more of their financial lives onto its app.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>The move highlighted how Klarna is looking to diversify beyond its core buy now, pay later product, for which it is primarily known.<\/p>\n<p>Klarna has yet to set a fixed timeline for the stock market listing, which is widely expected to be held in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>However, in an interview with CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Closing Bell&#8221; in February, Siemiatkowski said an IPO this year was &#8220;not impossible.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We still have a few steps and work ahead of ourselves,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But we&#8217;re keen on becoming a public company.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Separately, Klarna earlier this year <span class=\"waslinkname\">offloaded its proprietary checkout technology business<\/span>, which allows merchants to offer online payments, to a consortium of investors led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi, CEO and founding partner of Swedish venture capital firm BLQ Invest.<\/p>\n<p>The move, which Klarna called a &#8220;strategic&#8221; step, effectively removed competition for rival online checkout services including Stripe, Adyen, Block, and Checkout.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-test=\"WildCardEmbed\">\n<div class=\"WildcardEmbed-wrapper\"> div { box-sizing: border-box; } .noselect { -webkit-touch-callout: none; \/* iOS Safari *\/ -webkit-user-select: none; \/* Safari *\/ -khtml-user-select: none; \/* Konqueror HTML *\/ -moz-user-select: none; 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firm Klarna aims to return to profit by summer 2023. Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images Klarna said it posted a profit in the first half of the year, swinging into the black from a loss last year as the buy now, pay later pioneer edges closer toward its hotly anticipated stock &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-26313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26313"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26313"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=26313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}