Singapore-based tech conglomerate Sea Limited has achieved its first full year of annual profit in 2023 since its initial public offering (IPO).
Sea said in a statement on Tuesday that the firm posted a net income of $162.7 million in 2023, as compared to total net loss of $1.7 billion in 2022.
Its total adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the year was $1.2 billion, as compared to losses before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization $878.1 million for 2022.
The firm’s total revenue for the year was $13.1 billion, up 4.9 percent year-on-year.
The firm’s revenue for E-commerce in 2023 was $9 billion, up 23.5 percent year-on-year.
The sector’s adjusted losses before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization narrowed to $213.8 million, from $1.7 billion in 2022.
“In 2023, we achieved profitability, strengthened our market leadership for our e-commerce business, grew our digital financial services business, and stabilized the performance of our digital entertainment business,
“We have emerged with a much stronger balance sheet with our cash position increasing to $8.5 billion as of the end of 2023, demonstrating the discipline and prudence we have applied in our investments over the past year,” said Forrest Li, Sea’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Looking ahead, he expects 2024 to be another profitable year.
Despite an environment of intensified competition in Southeast Asia, he believes Shopee had a meaningful gain in market share between the start and the end of 2023.
“We are happy to have solidified Shopee’s market share in the region, and we intend to maintain our market share in 2024,
“We expect Shopee’s full-year gross merchandise (GMV) growth to be in the high teens range and its adjusted EBITDA to turn positive in the second half of this year,” he added.
For SeaMoney, he said 2023 was the first year of positive profit, primarily attributed to the firm’s consumer and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit business.
“In 2024, we will continue to invest in user acquisition for our credit business, both on and off Shopee platform as we see significant upside in our markets,
“As we scale, we will remain prudent on risk management,” he said.
For Garena, he said they are seeing improved user acquisition and retention trends for Free Fire.
“In 2023, Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game globally according to Sensor Tower. We are pleased that these positive trends are continuing into 2024,
“In February, Free Fire achieved more than 100 million peak daily active users. It remains one of the largest mobile games in the world,” he said.
With this positive momentum, he said the firm currently expects Free Fire to grow double-digits year-on-year for both user base and bookings in 2024.
“We are pleased to see positive trends in both growth and profitability for all three of our businesses. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest for the future with discipline and focus,” he added.
As for the fourth quarter, the firm’s total adjusted EBITDA was $126.7 million, as compared to $495.7 million a year ago.
Its total net loss for the quarter was $111.6 million, as compared to total net income of $422.8 million a year earlier.
The firm’s total revenue for the quarter was $3.6 billion, up 4.8 percent year-on-year.
As for E-commerce sector, its adjusted losses before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was $225.3 million, as compared to EBITDA of $196.1 million a year ago.
The sector’s revenue for the quarter was $2.6 billion, up 23.2 percent year-on-year.
Sea is a leading global consumer internet company founded in Singapore in 2009.
The firm operates three core businesses across digital entertainment, e-commerce, as well as digital financial services, known as Garena, Shopee and SeaMoney, respectively.
Garena is a leading global online games developer and publisher, while Shopee is the largest pan-regional e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan and has a significant presence in South America.
SeaMoney is a leading digital financial services provider in Southeast Asia and is growing its presence in Brazil.