Klarna posts another round of mega losses

Net interest income rose 27% to SEK1.72 billion while credit losses rose to SEK2.8 billion from SEK1.34 billion.

Gross merchandise volume, the total value of merchandise sold through Klarna, rose to $80 billion in H2 from $53 billion in the same period last year, as the company saw growth in all markets it added across the globe.

“In absolute terms our credit losses are growing,” Co-Founder and Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski said.

“This is entirely explained by Klarna’s growth, expansion to new markets and massive inflow of new customers. It is more challenging to underwrite a new customer compared to an existing returning one.”

Klarna said the US continues to be its fastest-growing key market by volume and now its second-largest by revenue, much of it fuelled by its app and retail partnerships.

The company said it has more than 100 million global active users, with that number set to rise to 147 million when acquisitions are integrated, across 45 countries.

“We are now serving more than 100 million active customers across the world. I am pleased to say that 99% of our lending globally is repaid,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and Co-Founder of Klarna.

“But we have also continued to grow our Pay Now immediate settlement option that today represents ca. 40% of our total transaction volume.

With some truly exciting companies like Stocard and Hero joining Klarna, our active consumer number will grow to over 147 million. We have also massively accelerated our global expansion with the addition of 10 new markets since the start of 2020.”