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Klarna losses jump with global expansion

Klarna losses jump with global expansion

Klarna now has 90 million active users globally and 2 million transactions a day in 17 markets.

Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Buy now pay later company Klarna is growing fast, but losses are also rising.

Credit losses increased to SEK1.85 billion ($213 million) in the first half of the year, up from SEK1.19 billion ($137 million) in the year-ago period. Klarna attributed credit losses to entering new markets: It recently launched in New Zealand, France, Spain and Poland.

Operating losses were SEK965 million ($111 million) in the second quarter, up from SEK89 million ($10 million) in the year-ago period.

Gross merchandise volume globally jumped to more than $20 billion in the second quarter, up from $12 billion in the year-ago period. In the first half of 2021, GMV was $39 billion, compared to $22 billion in the year-ago period.

Klarna now has 90 million active users globally and 2 million transactions a day in 17 markets.

Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.

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