Sea Limited’s e-commerce arm, Shopee, turned positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2022. The group also posted its first-ever positive net income in the quarter.
Rafael Henrique | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Singapore-based Sea Limited closed more than 20% higher on Tuesday after the tech giant posted its first-ever positive net income since it was founded in 2009.
Total net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 came up to $422.8 million, up from negative $616.3 million in the same period a year ago.
That’s partly due to a $746 million reduction in sales and marketing expenses, as management pledged to reduce costs during the previous quarter’s earnings report. Cost incurred to obtain revenue also decreased by $157 million in the quarter.
Shares of Sea closed 21.78% higher on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.
“Recent cost-cutting measures like freezing salaries and employee headcount [have] given Sea’s stock some much needed reprieve. Additionally, the positive surprise in fourth-quarter 2022 earnings should provide continued upward momentum for Sea – especially with the path to profitability slightly clearer,” said Jonathan Woo, senior research analyst at Phillip Securities.
We do expect Garena’s growth to continue declining moving forward, given the lack of a strong games pipeline, and the continued download ban on Free Fire in India.
Jonathan Woo
Senior research analyst, Phillip Securities
“However, there are still some macro headwinds and declining gross merchandize value (GMV) trends that could further delay its path to profitability,” said Woo. GMV refers to the total dollar value of goods and services sold over a certain period of time.
Sea’s core businesses are in digital entertainment (Garena), e-commerce (Shopee), as well as digital payments and financial services (SeaMoney).
The chairman and group CEO of Sea Limited, said on Tuesday that 2022 was “another year of evolution for us.”
“Given the macro uncertainties, we pivoted decisively late last year to focus on efficiency and profitability,” Forrest Li said during the earnings call. “As a result, we began to see meaningful improvements in the bottom line.”
“First, we sharpened our focus on the areas with the greatest potential across our businesses. We exited or downsized operations in non-core markets, streamlined our game pipeline with divestments and project closures, and deprioritized non-core initiatives,” the CEO said.
Garena: Digital entertainment
Revenue from its gaming unit Garena slipped 32.9% to $948.8 million in the quarter, when it was $1.41 billion in the same period a year ago.
Given the macro uncertainty and our recent strong pivot, we are closely monitoring the market environment and we will continue to adjust our pace and fine-tune our operations accordingly
Forrest Li
chairman and group CEO, Sea Limited
“We do expect Garena’s growth to continue declining moving forward, given the lack of a…
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