Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later giant, posted its first monthly profit after slashing costs and clamping down on slow payers.
Boss Sebastian Siemiatkowski had set a target of profitability by around this time ahead of a possible IPO when conditions in markets improve.
“From an IPO perspective, the requirements have been met,” Siemiatkowski told the FT, “so now, it’s more market conditions. it’s more a question of us getting ready and preparing the organisation.
"We don’t have any official date; we haven’t announced anything.”
Losses in the half-year to June reduced to SEK 2.115 billion (£153 million) from SEK 6.37 billion, which included a month (May) in the black while payments using the platform rose by 14% SEK 449.3 billion (£32 billion).
Siemiatkowski said: “Having led the company through the 2008 financial crisis I knew we had a strong and resilient business model to see us through.”
Klarna saw its value slashed by 85% to US$6.7 billion in 2022 when it raised cash as losses rose, prompting the company to cut around 10% of its staff.
Siemiatkowski also hailed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), which he said has slashed the time needed to serve customers by an average of 19 seconds per interaction, amounting to over 60,000 hours annually.
Regulatory scrutiny has been rising for companies such as Klarna as their popularity has grown during the cost-of-living crisis.
In the UK, a review commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2021 called for “very urgent” action but has yet to see any follow-up, though UK regulation is now scheduled to be introduced this autumn.