Sea turns first annual profit as e-commerce strength fuels fourth quarter

Singapore-based Sea delivered its first annual profit since the cyber internet agency’s market debut in 2017, as stable notify in its e-commerce enterprise helped the firm put up a smaller fourth-quarter loss than anticipated.

Shares of US-listed Sea jumped extra than 12 per cent to US$57.26 in early procuring and selling on Monday (Mar 4), after it also forecast 2024 would be another winning year, compounding optimism round Southeast Asian tech companies after Take hold of recorded its maiden winning quarter.

The results underscored resilience in Sea’s e-commerce enterprise, including the Shopee app, against competitors from bigger competitors reminiscent of Alibaba Team’s Lazada, ByteDance’s TikTok, and serene entrants love PDD’s Temu.

“No topic an ambiance of intensified competitors in Southeast Asia, we predict Shopee had a meaningful originate in market fragment between the start up and the stay of 2023,” mentioned Sea CEO Forrest Li.

Some analysts hold mentioned Shopee gained market fragment throughout the quarter in Indonesia after TikTok’s on-line looking out provider was banned in the nation.

Southeast Asia’s largest cyber internet agency posted a 23 per cent soar in quarterly e-commerce income, riding up total income of US$3.62 billion above estimates of US$3.55 billion, based on LSEG.