Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) (“Sea” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025. “We have delivered another great quarter of strong growth w...
SINGAPORE: Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) (“Sea” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
“We have delivered another great quarter of strong growth with improving profitability across all three businesses. Our strong start to the year gives us more confidence of achieving our full-year guidance.” said Forrest Li, Sea’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
On e-commerce, he said, “Shopee has delivered a record-high GMV and gross order volume in the first quarter. We sustained market leadership with improved profitability across both Asia and Brazil. Our strong execution of our operational priorities – enhancing price competitiveness, improving service quality, and strengthening our content ecosystem – has continued to make Shopee competitive and differentiated.”
On digital financial services, Mr. Li shared that SeaMoney had been rebranded to Monee. “We chose the name Monee because it is simple, cute, and, just like our company’s name Sea, easy to write and pronounce. Monee also resonates well with the name of its sister brand, Shopee, reflecting the seamless, synergetic connection between the two ecosystems.”
On Monee’s performance for the quarter, Mr. Li said, “Monee delivered another strong set of results, with both revenue and adjusted EBITDA growing more than 50% year-on-year while maintaining stable asset quality. As we scale, we remain focused on risk management as a top priority. We are confident that we can grow Monee in a way that is resilient to credit cycles and profitable into the long term.”
On digital entertainment, Mr. Li said, “Garena had a stellar start to 2025, with its best quarter since 2021. Thanks to the phenomenal success of the Free Fire and NARUTO collaboration in January, Free Fire’s average DAU in the first quarter was close to its peak quarterly average DAU during the pandemic. We will continue to drive Free Fire’s popularity and longevity, improve localized content across our games, and expand our game portfolio for overall sustained growth.”
First Quarter 2025 Highlights
1 For a discussion of the use of non-GAAP financial measures, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”. |
2 Off-book loans principal outstanding mainly refers to channeling arrangements, which is lending by other financial institutions on our platform. |
3 GAAP revenue for the digital entertainment segment plus change in digital entertainment deferred revenue. This operating metric is used as an approximation of cash spent by our users in the applicable period that is attributable to our digital entertainment segment. |
Unaudited Summary of Financial Results | ||||||||
(Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars “$” except for per share data) | ||||||||
| For the Three Months |
| ||||||
| 2024 | 2025 |
| |||||
| $ | $ | YOY% | |||||
Revenue |
|
|
| |||||
Service revenue | 3,408,139 |
| 4,434,537 |
| 30.1 | % | ||
Sales of goods | 326,190 |
| 406,563 |
| 24.6 | % | ||
| 3,734,329 |
| 4,841,100 |
| 29.6 | % | ||
|
|
|
| |||||
Cost of revenue |
|
|
| |||||
Cost of service | (1,871,031 | ) | (2,231,118 | ) | 19.2 | % | ||
Cost of goods sold | (309,548 | ) | (373,789 | ) | 20.8 | % | ||
| (2,180,579 | ) | (2,604,907 | ) | 19.5 | % | ||
Gross profit | 1,553,750 |
| 2,236,193 |
| 43.9 | % | ||
Other operating income | 43,977 |
| 34,901 |
| (20.6 | %) | ||
Sales and marketing expenses | (769,635 | ) | (929,699 | ) | 20.8 | % | ||
General and administrative expenses | (290,854 | ) | (307,189 | ) | 5.6 | % | ||
Provision for credit losses | (161,767 | ) | (281,944 | ) | 74.3 | % | ||
Research and development expenses | (304,379 | ) | (295,858 | ) | (2.8 | %) | ||
Total operating expenses | (1,482,658 | ) | (1,779,789 | ) | 20.0 | % | ||
Operating income | 71,092 |
| 456,404 |
| 542.0 | % | ||
Non-operating (loss) income, net | (17,541 | ) | 89,208 |
| (608.6 | %) | ||
Income tax expense | (78,760 | ) | (136,315 | ) | 73.1 | % | ||
Share of results of equity investees | 2,209 |
| 1,528 |
| (30.8 | %) | ||
Net (loss) income | (23,000 | ) | 410,825 |
| (1,886.2 | %) | ||
(Loss) Earnings per share |
|
|
| |||||
Basic | (0.04 | ) | 0.68 |
| (1,800.0 | %) | ||
Diluted | (0.04 | ) | 0.65 |
| (1,725.0 | %) | ||
|
|
|
| |||||
Change in deferred revenue of Digital Entertainment | 54,029 |
| 279,820 |
| 417.9 | % | ||
|
|
|
| |||||
Adjusted EBITDA for Digital Entertainment (1) | 292,208 |
| 458,206 |
| 56.8 | % | ||
Adjusted EBITDA for E-commerce (1) | (21,700 | ) | 264,417 |
| (1,318.5 | %) | ||
Adjusted EBITDA for Digital Financial Services (1) | 148,658 |
| 241,439 |
| 62.4 | % | ||
Adjusted EBITDA for Other Services (1) | (10,671 | ) | (9,110 | ) | (14.6 | %) | ||
Unallocated expenses (2) | (7,346 | ) | (8,443 | ) | 14.9 | % | ||
Total adjusted EBITDA (1) | 401,149 |
| 946,509 |
| 135.9 | % |
(1) For a discussion of the use of non-GAAP financial measures, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”. |
(2) Unallocated expenses within total adjusted EBITDA are mainly related to general and corporate administrative costs such as professional fees and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to segments. These expenses are excluded from segment results as they are not reviewed by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) as part of segment performance. |
Three Months Ended March 31, 2025 Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2024
Revenue
Our total GAAP revenue increased by 29.6% to US$4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025 from US$3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The table below sets forth our revenue breakdown. Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars (“$”).
| For the Three Months |
| |||||
| 2024 |
| 2025 | YOY% | |||
| $ |
| $ |
| |||
Service revenue |
|
|
|
| |||
E-commerce | 2,422,740 |
| 3,118,931 | 28.7 | % | ||
Digital Financial Services | 499,364 |
| 787,117 | 57.6 | % | ||
Digital Entertainment | 458,119 |
| 495,589 | 8.2 | % | ||
Other Services(1) | 27,916 |
| 32,900 | 17.9 | % | ||
Sales of goods | 326,190 |
| 406,563 | 24.6 | % | ||
Total revenue | 3,734,329 |
| 4,841,100 | 29.6 | % |
(1) |
| Other services are a combination of multiple business activities that do not meet the quantitative threshold to qualify as reportable segments. |
Cost of Revenue
Our total cost of revenue was US$2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to US$2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The table below sets forth our cost of revenue breakdown. Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars (“$”).
| For the Three Months |
| |||||
| 2024 |
| 2025 | YOY% | |||
| $ |
| $ |
| |||
Cost of service |
|
|
|
| |||
E-commerce | 1,627,509 |
| 1,934,323 | 18.9 | % | ||
Digital Financial Services | 78,301 |
| 106,433 | 35.9 | % | ||
Digital Entertainment | 155,977 |
| 181,004 | 16.0 | % | ||
Other Services(1) | 9,244 |
| 9,358 | 1.2 | % | ||
Cost of goods sold | 309,548 |
| 373,789 | 20.8 | % | ||
Total cost of revenue | 2,180,579 |
| 2,604,907 | 19.5 | % |
(1) |
| Other services are a combination of multiple business activities that do not meet the quantitative threshold to qualify as reportable segments. |
Other Operating Income
Our other operating income was US$34.9 million and US$44.0 million in the first quarter of 2025 and 2024, respectively. Other operating income mainly consists of rebates from e-commerce related logistics services providers.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
Our total sales and marketing expenses increased by 20.8% to US$929.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$769.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. The table below sets forth breakdown of the sales and marketing expenses of our major reporting segments. Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars (“$”).
| For the Three Months |
| |||||
| 2024 |
| 2025 | YOY% | |||
Sales and Marketing Expenses | $ |
| $ |
| |||
E-commerce | 675,881 |
| 777,492 | 15.0 | % | ||
Digital Financial Services | 56,768 |
| 96,261 | 69.6 | % | ||
Digital Entertainment | 19,376 |
| 28,906 | 49.2 | % |
General and Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses increased by 5.6% to US$307.2 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$290.9 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Provision for Credit Losses
Our provision for credit losses increased by 74.3% to US$281.9 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$161.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses decreased by 2.8% to US$295.9 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$304.4 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Non-operating Income or Losses, Net
Non-operating income or losses mainly consist of interest income, interest expense, investment gain (loss), foreign exchange gain (loss) and gain (loss) on debt extinguishment. We recorded a net non-operating income of US$89.2 million in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to a net non-operating loss of US$(17.5) million in the first quarter of 2024. The non-operating income in the first quarter of 2025 was primarily due to interest income of US$88.8 million.
Income Tax Expense
We had a net income tax expense of US$136.3 million and US$78.8 million in the first quarter of 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Net Income or Loss
As a result of the foregoing, we had net income of US$410.8 million in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to net loss of US$(23.0) million in the first quarter of 2024.
Basic and Diluted Earnings or Loss Per Share Attributable to Sea Limited’s Ordinary Shareholders
Basic earnings per share attributable to Sea Limited’s ordinary shareholders was US$0.68 in the first quarter of 2025, compared to basic loss per share attributable to Sea Limited’s ordinary shareholders of US$(0.04) in the first quarter of 2024.
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Sea Limited’s ordinary shareholders was US$0.65 in the first quarter of 2025, compared to diluted loss per share attributable to Sea Limited’s ordinary shareholders of US$(0.04) in the first quarter of 2024.
Webcast and Conference Call Information
The Company’s management will host a conference call today to review Sea’s business and financial performance.
Details of the conference call and webcast are as follows:
Date and time: | 7:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time on May 13, 2025 | |
Webcast link: |
A replay of the conference call will be available at the Company’s investor relations website (www.sea.com/investor/home). An archived webcast will be available at the same link above.
About Sea Limited
Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) is a leading global consumer internet company founded in Singapore in 2009. Its mission is to better the lives of consumers and small businesses with technology. Sea operates three core businesses across digital entertainment, e-commerce, as well as digital financial services, known as Garena, Shopee and Monee, respectively. Garena is a leading global online games developer and publisher. Shopee is the largest pan-regional e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan and has a significant presence in Latin America. Monee is a leading digital financial services provider in Southeast Asia and is growing its presence in Brazil.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “could,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate,” “likely to,” “potential,” “confident,” “guidance,” and similar statements. Among other things, statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sea’s beliefs and expectations, the business, financial and market outlook, and projections from its management in this announcement, as well as Sea’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Sea may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases, and other w
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