Block reported a 62 percent rise in gross profit to $4.42 billion for the 2021 calendar year.

Annual profits topped $1 billion for the first time, Block said on Thursday.

The company completed its acquisition of Afterpay on January 31, and in its financial report for the first time since the acquisition, it addressed future plans.

Block's goal, confirmed by the company, is to enable Square sellers of all sizes to offer BNPL at checkout, offer Afterpay users the ability to manage their installment payments directly in the Cash App, and empower Cash customers App to find direct sellers and BNPL offers within the app.

"United by our shared goal of economic empowerment, we are excited to welcome the Afterpay team to block and help make the financial system fairer and more inclusive as we build together," the digital payments company said.

Cash App is Block's digital wallet, which has around 44 million active users in the US. Although it started as a peer-to-peer payments app, it now allows customers to deposit their salaries, pay their taxes, trade stocks and bitcoins, and send fractional stocks and bitcoins to friends and family. Afterpay is about to become an integral part of its offering.

Block's Cash App ecosystem provided almost half of its revenue and generated gross profit of $2.07 billion, up 69 percent year-over-year.

Apart from Cash App, the digital payments company boasts three other divisions – Square, Tidal and TBD.

Afterpay's financials will be included in Block's Q1 report.

Maja Garatsa Djurdjevic

Maya's career in journalism spans more than a decade in finance, business and politics. Now an experienced editor and reporter in all elements of the financial services sector, before joining Momentum Media, Maya reported for several established news outlets in South East Europe, looking at key processes in post-conflict societies.