▾ G11 Media Network: | ChannelCity | ImpresaCity | SecurityOpenLab | Italian Channel Awards | Italian Project Awards | Italian Security Awards | ...
InnovationOpenLab

Sea Limited Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

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...

Business Wire

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

  • Group
    • Total GAAP revenue was US$4.8 billion, up 29.6% year-on-year.
    • Total gross profit was US$2.2 billion, up 43.9% year-on-year.
    • Total net income was US$410.8 million, as compared to total net loss of US$(23.0) million for the first quarter of 2024.
    • Total adjusted EBITDA1 was US$946.5 million, as compared to US$401.1 million for the first quarter of 2024.
  • E-commerce
    • Gross orders totaled 3.1 billion for the quarter, increasing by 20.5% year-on-year.
    • GMV was US$28.6 billion for the quarter, increasing by 21.5% year-on-year.
    • GAAP revenue was US$3.5 billion, up 28.3% year-on-year.
    • GAAP revenue included US$3.1 billion of GAAP marketplace revenue, which consists of core marketplace revenue and value-added services revenue and increased by 28.7% year-on-year.
      • Core marketplace revenue, mainly consisting of transaction-based fees and advertising revenues, was up 39.2% year-on-year to US$2.4 billion.
      • Value-added services revenue, mainly consisting of revenues related to logistics services, was up 4.1% year-on-year to US$752.2 million.
    • Adjusted EBITDA1 was US$264.4 million, as compared to US$(21.7) million for the first quarter of 2024.
  • Digital Financial Services
    • GAAP revenue was US$787.1 million, up 57.6% year-on-year.
    • Adjusted EBITDA1 was US$241.4 million, up 62.4% year-on-year.
    • Digital financial services revenue and operating income are primarily attributed to the consumer and SME credit business. As of March 31, 2025, consumer and SME loans principal outstanding was US$5.8 billion, up 76.5% year-on-year. This consists of US$4.9 billion on-book and US$0.9 billion off-book loans principal outstanding2.
    • Non-performing loans past due by more than 90 days as a percentage of consumer and SME loans principal outstanding, which includes both on-book and off-book loans principal outstanding2, was 1.1%, relatively stable quarter-on-quarter.
  • Digital Entertainment
    • Bookings3 were US$775.4 million, up 51.4% year-on-year.
    • GAAP revenue was US$495.6 million, as compared to US$458.1 million for the first quarter of 2024.
    • Adjusted EBITDA1 was US$458.2 million, up 56.8% year-on-year.
    • Adjusted EBITDA represented 59.1% of bookings for the first quarter of 2025, as compared to 57.1% for the first quarter of 2024.
    • Quarterly active users were 661.8 million, up 11.3% year-on-year.
    • Quarterly paying users were 64.6 million, up 32.2% year-on-year. Paying user ratio was 9.8%, as compared to 8.2% for the first quarter of 2024.
    • Average bookings per user were US$1.17, as compared to US$0.86 for the first quarter of 2024.

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
ended March 31,

 

 

 

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
   attributable to Sea Limited’s ordinary shareholders:

 

 

 

 

 

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
ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

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.

  • E-commerce: Our e-commerce service GAAP revenue increased by 28.7% to US$3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025 from US$2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by the growth of GMV.
  • Digital Financial Services: Our digital financial services GAAP revenue increased by 57.6% to US$787.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$499.4 million in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by the growth of our credit business as our lending activities increased.
  • Digital Entertainment: Our digital entertainment GAAP revenue increased by 8.2% to US$495.6 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$458.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. This increase was primarily due to the increase in our active user base as well as the deepened paying user penetration.
  • Sales of goods: GAAP revenue increased by 24.6% to US$406.6 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$326.2 million in the first quarter of 2024.

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
ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

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.

  • E-commerce: Cost of revenue was US$1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to US$1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by an increase in logistics costs as orders volume grew.
  • Digital Financial Services: Cost of revenue was US$106.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to US$78.3 million in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by server and hosting expenses, interest expenses due to the growth in customer deposits under our banking business, and other costs associated with our credit business.
  • Digital Entertainment: Cost of revenue was US$181.0 million in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to US$156.0 million in the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to higher royalties associated with the use of third-party intellectual properties.
  • Cost of goods sold: Cost of goods sold increased by 20.8% to US$373.8 million in the first quarter of 2025 from US$309.5 million in the first quarter of 2024.

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
ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

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
7:30 PM Singapore / Hong Kong Time on May 13, 2025

 

Webcast link:

 

https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/514818182

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

If you liked this article and want to stay up to date with news from InnovationOpenLab.com subscribe to ours Free newsletter.

Related news

Last News

RSA at Cybertech Europe 2024

Alaa Abdul Nabi, Vice President, Sales International at RSA presents the innovations the vendor brings to Cybertech as part of a passwordless vision for…

Italian Security Awards 2024: G11 Media honours the best of Italian cybersecurity

G11 Media's SecurityOpenLab magazine rewards excellence in cybersecurity: the best vendors based on user votes

How Austria is making its AI ecosystem grow

Always keeping an European perspective, Austria has developed a thriving AI ecosystem that now can attract talents and companies from other countries

Sparkle and Telsy test Quantum Key Distribution in practice

Successfully completing a Proof of Concept implementation in Athens, the two Italian companies prove that QKD can be easily implemented also in pre-existing…

Most read

Securonix Acquires ThreatQuotient to Deliver Industry’s Broadest and Deepest…

Today, Securonix, a five-time Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), announced the acquisition of…

Confidential Computing Poised for Explosive Growth as Anjuna Secures Three…

Anjuna, a leader in Confidential Computing and AI Data Fusion Clean Rooms, today announced the addition of a new top five global bank to its growing roster…

PubNub Evolves Its Platform with AI-Native Development, Real-Time Moderation,…

PubNub, the leader in real-time interactive apps, unveiled the next evolution of its platform. It introduces AI-native development, real-time decision…

Glean Raises $150M Series F at $7.2B Valuation to Accelerate Enterprise…

Work AI leader Glean today announced it raised $150 million in Series F financing, bringing its valuation to $7.2 billion. The round was led by Wellington…

Newsletter signup

Join our mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox.

Sign me up!