COPENHAGEN, May 19 (Reuters) - Swedish fintech Klarna,
which last month paused plans for an initial public offering,
reported first-quarter revenue growth of 15% from a year ago on
Monday while adjusted earnings swung to a small profit, boosted
by growth in the United States.
Klarna, which helped reshape online shopping with its
short-term financing model, in April halted its plans for a U.S.
stock market listing amid recession fears and uncertainty over
tariffs, sources familiar with the situation said at the time.
The company had made its paperwork public in March for a
long-awaited stock market debut, after it started the process of
going public for a second time in three years in November 2024.
Klarna did not provide an update on the IPO plan on Monday,
but said it was closely monitoring changes for its business in
the economic environment.
"While we continue to see broad-based adoption of our
commerce network, Klarna remains well-positioned to adapt
swiftly if required," it said in the first-quarter earnings
report.
Earlier on Monday before Klarna's publication of its
results, Britain said it planned to regulate buy now, pay later
lenders from next year to give shoppers stronger rights and more
protections from unregulated borrowing.
Klarna's January-March revenue grew by 15% on a
like-for-like basis to $701 million, while its adjusted profit
stood at $3 million, up from a loss of $2 million a year ago
when adjusting for the sale of its Klarna Checkout (KCO)
business.
In the United States, revenue grew 33% year-on-year, helped
by partnerships with Walmart ( WMT ), DoorDash ( DASH ) and eBay ( EBAY ), Klarna said.
The company had 100 million active customers on its platform
and operations in 26 countries in April.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje
Solsvik and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)