Shopee’s owner Sea tops quarterly revenue estimates on e-commerce strength

BENGALURU - South-east Asian technology firm Sea beat estimates for first-quarter revenue on May 14, driven by the strong performance of its e-commerce unit Shopee, sending US-listed shares of the company up 7 per cent in pre-market trading.

Analysts have said Shopee benefited from an early start of Ramadan in the quarter, while Sea’s digital business gained from the popularity of online multi-player game Free Fire.

Sea’s total revenue grew 23 per cent to US$3.73 billion (S$5.05 billion) in the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$3.56 billion, according to data provider LSEG.

“Our results in the first quarter have given us a strong start to 2024, and we are well on track to deliver our full-year guidance,” CEO Forrest Li said in a statement.

The US$37 billion firm had a meteoric run in 2020 and 2021, when pandemic-led demand lifted revenues and helped it expand beyond South-east Asian markets. However, a global economic slowdown forced Sea to streamline businesses and cut thousands of jobs.

Exiting India, Europe and some Latin American markets, among other initiatives, helped the company achieve its first annual profit in 2023.

Sales from e-commerce, its biggest unit, grew 33 per cent to $2.7 billion in the March quarter, compared with LSEG estimates of US$2.54 billion.

Bookings at its digital entertainment business, which includes gaming platform Garena, were higher than expected at US$512.1 million. However, growth in its digital financial services unit came in below expectations. REUTERS