Klarna sales jump by almost a third as transactions hit a million a day

The Swedish buy-now-pay-later platform said it added 25,000 new firms to its network.

Buy-now-pay-later platform Klarna said annual sales jumped by almost a third, adding that the business now handled an average of a million transactions a day.

The Swedish fintech said 2018 operating revenues lifted 31 per cent to $627m, compared to a year ago, as the business added 25,000 new firms to its payments network.

The Stockholm-based company, founded in 2005, said over 130,000 merchants across 14 markets used its services, including Adidas, Zara, Lenovo, Lufthansa, Spotify and Turkish Airlines. It said 26 million new customers used its network last year.

The group added that total sales volumes - payments made through its network - jumped 36 per cent to $29bn.

However, Klarna said its net income for the period tumbled 70 per cent $12m, as it expanded into new markets and products. 

The Swedish firm is the UK's market leading buy-now-pay-later platform, with 4.4 million users. It completes against New Zealand’s Laybuy, while Australia’s Afterpay plans a British launch in the second half of this year.

Klarna co-founder and chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski (pictured) said: “Klarna does not dwell too much on past achievements, our focus is on it the new opportunities and challenges ahead but it's clear we have built strong momentum and the strategic investments made in 2018 are already proving a solid platform for driving desired future growth and scale.”

The group said its UK business “is making significant gains”, with its Klarna Pay Later users making 8.6 transactions a year. Key UK merchants include Topshop, JD sports, ASOS and Fragrance Shop.