US subscription video-on-demand service Netflix is continuing its international expansion, launching in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Film fans in the four Nordic countries will be able to join Netflix by the end of 2012, the company announced on Wednesday.

Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, launched the service in the UK and Ireland earlier this year in a bid to take on established players including Sky and Amazon-owned LoveFilm.

The move into Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland will heat up the rivalry between Netflix and LoveFilm, which already operates in those countries.

Netflix now has 27 million subscribers worldwide, with most users in the US and Canada. Hastings has said that Netflix signed up 1 million subscribers in the UK in its first six-and-a-half months.

The company has been hit financially by the cost of its international growth, incurring a $100m (£62m) loss on its operations outside the US in the first quarter of this year. Netflix reported an overall loss of $5m as its US operation, which accounts for 88% of its global subscribers and 95% of revenues, balances the cost of its international expansion.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook