Klarna, the Swedish "buy now, pay later" services provider and online bank, posted first-quarter operating profit and revenue ahead of analysts' expectations today, helped by growth in US markets.
But while its quarterly revenue rose 44% to $1 billion, beating estimates of $945 million, Klarna's current-quarter revenue forecast of $960m to $1 billion was well below expectations of $1.67 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts.
Klarna said its quarterly operating income was $17m compared with a loss of $90m the same time last year, ahead of expectations of $9m. Adjusted operating profit rose to $68m, from $3m a year ago, it said.
The company focused on profit ahead of growth in the quarter after prioritizing growth over the bottom line in the fourth quarter, an approach which wiped a quarter off its market value.
"It obviously became clear to us that it was important to all the shareholders that they were supportive about the growth, but they also wanted to see the bottom line growing well," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters.
Klarna's gross merchandise volume (GMV), a metric for measuring sales, rose 33% to $33.7 billion in the quarter.
In the second, Klarna expects GMV of between $35.5 billion and $36.5 billion compared to expectations of $38.1 billion.
