BUYER’S REGRET

Klarna’s CEO Enjoys Pay Raise as Company Reports $1B Yearly Loss

The Swedish “buy-now, pay-later” company insisted that it was on track to reach profitability by this summer.

As well as wide losses throughout 2022, Swedish “buy-now, pay-later” group Klarna posted Tuesday a full-year operating loss of 10.5 billion crowns, or $1 billion, against 6.6 billion crowns in 2021, but insisted it was on track to return to profitability this summer. The company pointed to an improved performance in its fourth quarter, noting that its operating loss shrank to 2 billion crowns, down from 3.5 billion the year before, with gross merchandise volume, or the value of goods purchased through Klarna, up 19 percent. The annual report coincided roughly with the 35 percent boost of the salary paid to chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski, to 13.2 million crowns ($1.26 million), The Financial Times reported. A spokesperson for the firm told the newspaper that its salary policy was in line with that of other tech companies “in order to hire and retain the best talent.”