Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech startup Klarna reported a 47% increase of its annual net loss in 2022 - to SKr 10.4bn ($1bn).

Russian Forbes reports citing the Financial Times that net losses narrowed in the fourth quarter to SKr 1.9bn from SKr 4.6bn a year earlier ($181.1mn from $438.4mn). Credit losses were SKr 1.4bn ($133.4mn) in the three months, an improvement of 18% on the same period in 2021.

“We are making concrete progress towards profitability, simultaneously driving growth well ahead of ecommerce and reducing credit losses and costs,” said Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski.

The Financial Times notes that despite the losses, Siemiatkowski’s total remuneration in 2022 increased 35% to SKr 13.2mn ($1.3mn). Klarna said its remuneration policy was aligned with other tech companies “in order to hire and retain the best talent”.

In 2021 Siemiatkowski and the second co-founder of the startup Victor Jacobsson became dollar billionaires. According to Forbes USA, as of February 28, Siemiatkowski’s net worth is $3.2 billion.

In 2021 Klarna’s status as Europe’s highest-valued private company came as online shopping boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic and received the evaluation of $45.6 billion. In 2022 the company’s valuation slashed seven times (to $6.7bn). Bloomberg explained a new valuation for Klarna with the situation in the public markets affected by inflation, higher rates and looming recession pressures.

In fall 2021 Klarna announced about acquiring PriceRunner leading comparison shopping service. The company planned to integrate the service to its app.

Recently, the fintech startup launched Money Story, which uses the animated “story” format popularised by social media, to provide users with spending insights that they can convert into financial goals for 2023. The package visualizes spending patterns and presents animated quiz questions that prompt users to reflect on where they think they spent their money in 2022.

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