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Klarna posted a wider quarterly loss despite another jump in revenue, as the buy-now-pay-later group set aside more money for potential loan losses and booked a charge tied to cutting office space.
The Swedish payments company reported a net loss of $53 million for the three months to June, compared with $18 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 20% to $823 million, lifted by strong demand in the U.S., where gross merchandise volume climbed 37%.
The increase in lending meant Klarna boosted its credit provisions by 64% from a year earlier, even as it said actual losses on its loan book had edged down. “Our realized credit losses fell to around 0.45% of volume, and delinquency is down year on year,” the company said in its statement. The quarter also included a $24 million charge for downsizing its office footprint.
Klarna counted 111 million active users at the end of June, up 31% from a year ago, with the U.S. now its largest single market by volume. The company has been expanding beyond its original point-of-sale instalment loans into shopping tools, cards and other consumer finance products.
The results come as the fintech weighs a long-awaited stock market debut. Klarna confidentially filed for a U.S. listing in late 2024 but shelved the plan in April, citing market conditions. People familiar with the matter have said it could revive the process later this year if equity markets remain stable.
The path to listing has been shaped by a turbulent few years. Klarna’s valuation plunged from $45.6 billion to $6.7 billion in 2022 after higher interest rates and tighter credit markets dented growth across the BNPL sector. The company cut staff and reined in marketing spend, moves that CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said were necessary to protect the business.
Klarna’s shareholder base includes Sequoia Capital, SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, Mubadala and China’s Ant Group, which bought a minority stake in 2020. Those backers have pressed for a return to profitability and greater clarity on governance as the company prepares for public markets.
The broader BNPL industry faces growing regulatory scrutiny. The UK is drafting rules to bring instalment lenders under the same oversight as other consumer credit providers, a step that could add compliance costs but also formalize the sector’s role in retail finance.
For Klarna, the near-term focus remains on controlling credit losses while sustaining revenue growth in key markets. With provisions now a heavier drag on earnings, the next few quarters will be critical in convincing investors that the company’s expansion can deliver profit as well as scale.
