Sea Limited has reported a total net income of US$162.7 million ($218.5 million) for the FY2023 ended Dec 31, 2023, its first full year of annual profit since its initial public offering (IPO) in October 2017.
In FY2022, the group recorded a net loss of US$1.66 billion, translating to a loss per share of US$2.96. For FY2023, earnings per share (EPS) on a fully diluted basis came to 25 US cents.
For the full year period, the group’s total GAAP (or generally accepted accounting principles) revenue stood at US$13.1 billion, up 4.9% y-o-y. This came off the back of a 23.5% y-o-y increase in GAAP revenue for its e-commerce segment, Shopee, which amounted to US$9.0 billion.
The segment’s adjusted ebitda came in at a loss of US$213.8 million for FY2023, improving from the US$1.7 billion loss for the previous financial year.
Gross orders also increased by 8.8% y-o-y, totalling 8.2 billion in FY2023, with Shopee making a “meaningful gain” in Southeast Asian market share during the period.
Meanwhile, Garena’s GAAP revenue fell to US$2.2 billion in FY2023 compared to US$3.9 billion in FY2022, with bookings falling to US$1.8 billion for the latest full-year period from US$2.8 billion previously.
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Adjusted ebitda for the augment also decreased 29.9% y-o-y to US$920.9 million despite improved user acquisition and retention trends for Free Fire — which was the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2023 according to digital intelligence company Sensor Tower.
Finally, SeaMoney’s GAAP revenue stood at US$1.8 billion in FY2023, up 44.0% y-o-y, with an adjusted ebitda of US$550.1 million compared to a loss of US$228.6 million in FY2022.
As at Dec 31, 2023, Sea’s total loans receivable remained increased to US$2.46 billion, net of allowance for credit losses of US$319.5 million.
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Its cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and other treasury investments for the group amounted to US$8.5 billion as at the same date, representing a net increase of US$565.7 million from Sept 30, 2023.
Chairman and CEO Forrest Li says: “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 US$8.5 billion as of the end of 2023, demonstrating the discipline and prudence we have applied in our investments over the past year. Looking ahead, we expect 2024 to be another profitable year,” he adds.
Shares in Sea were trading US$7.78 higher or 15.24% up compared to its previous closing price of US$51.05, at US$58.83 in premarket trading on the NYSE as at 8.06pm SGT.
