The firm axed 10% of its workforce in May alone, in an attempt to tackle improve the firm’s future financial position. The almost £500m operating loss figure was an increase from 1.76bn crowns (£141m), while at the same time revenues grew 24% to 9.1bn crowns (£732m) and operating expenses before credit increased 72.7% to 10.81bn crowns (£869m).

Speaking to shareholders, Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said: “Klarna has been operating in a very different environment in the first half of 2022. We serve 450,000 retailers and 150m consumers, which means that we have a profound impact on the world.

“At the same time, we are highly influenced by it. When we set our business plans for 2022 in the autumn of last year, it was a very different world than the one we are in today.

“Since then, we have seen a tragic and unnecessary war in Ukraine unfold, a huge shift in investor sentiment, a steep increase in inflation, a highly volatile stock market and a likely recession. All of these have marked the beginning of a very tumultuous year.”