Buy now, pay later firm Klarna reports first quarterly profit in four years

Swing to profit of 9.6m by Swedish firm improves its fortunes in run-up to possible 12bn flotation

The buy now, pay later company Klarna has logged its first quarterly profit in four years, improving its fortunes in the run-up to a potential $15bn (12bn) stock market flotation and a regulatory crackdown under a possible Labour government.

The Swedish firm, which is the biggest BNPL provider in Britain and has about 150 million international customers, said on Monday that it had swung to a profit of 130m Swedish kronor (9.6m) in the July to September quarter, marking a notable bounce from a 2bn kronor loss during the same period last year.