Swedish fintech Klarna cut its losses by 69% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the company's annual results.
Annual losses decreased from SEK10.4bn ($1bn) in the 12 months to December 31 2022, to SEK3.2bn (€290m) for 2023.
For the same period, total revenue increased by 22% from SEK19bn (€1.7bn) in 2022 to SEK 23,5bn (€2.1bn) in 2023.
The annual report for 2023, which was released on Wednesday, comes amid increasing rumours about Klarna preparing for an IPO, with the company reported to be looking for a $20bn valuation at a public listing as early as this autumn.
One step closer to an IPO
Klarna’s performance improved as the year went on, as more of its customer base paid back their debts. Consumer credit losses were down 32% YoY in 2023, from SEK 5,6bn (€500m) in 2022 to SEK 3,8bn (€340m) in 2023.
The CEO and founder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, calls 2023 a “record year” in several ways.
“We not only achieved our first month and quarter of profitability in four years, but also did so while maintaining a great growth trajectory across all markets and driving a gross profit margin of 50%,” he said in the report.
Siemiatkowski also describes how GenAI has played a part in Klarna’s work.
“We were quick to adopt generative AI - we were one of the first brands to build a ChatGPT plugin and the first bank to launch with ChatGPT enterprise. Currently, more than half of all Klarnauts use AI tools,” he says.
The report says Klarna has 150m global customers, the same number stated in the report for 2022. With the layoffs and outsourcing that happened in 2023, Klarna has decreased its employee count from around 5,400 at the end of 2022 to 4,200 at the end of 2023.
Klarna also reports a first full year in the US with a gross profit of SEK 1.4bn (€120m), up from a loss of SEK 900m (€80m) in 2022. With the US having been the focus for Klarna for many years, it represents an important milestone for the company that is looking to IPO in the US.
The company has said several times that a public listing is planned to happen “quite soon”, however, a set date is yet to be confirmed. A report from Bloomberg earlier in the week stated an IPO may happen as early as autumn of 2023 and that sources close to the company say it is looking for a valuation of $20bn.
Klarna’s latest valuation was at $6.7bn when it raised funding in the summer of 2022. Its highest valuation was at $46bn in June 2021.
