Sea : 2024 Q4 Press Release

Published: 2025-03-04 06:33:13 ET SE

Sea Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results

Singapore, March 4, 2025 - Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) ("Sea" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

"We delivered a great 2024 with all three businesses going back to strong, double-digit growth, exceeding our original guidance. It was also our second consecutive year of annual positive profit, with all three of our businesses recording positive adjusted EBITDA," said Forrest Li, Sea's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

On e-commerce, he said, "GMV grew 28% year-on-year to surpass US$100 billion, and we achieved adjusted EBITDA profitability in both Asia and Brazil. We remain confident about our ability to continue delivering profitable growth in 2025 and expect Shopee's full year 2025 GMV growth to be around 20%, with improving profitability."

Regarding digital financial services, Mr. Li shared, "We delivered exceptional loan book growth of more than 60% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, surpassing US$5 billion as of the end of 2024, making us one of the largest consumer lending businesses in Southeast Asia. While we have scaled fast, risk management remains to be our top operational priority. In 2025, we expect loan book size to grow meaningfully faster than Shopee's GMV annual growth rate, as we improve credit penetration both on- and off-Shopee."

On digital entertainment, Mr. Li said, "2024 was a great year for Garena, marking Free Fire's remarkable comeback with annual bookings growing at 34% year-on-year. Looking ahead into 2025, we will continue scaling our user base and broadening our content offerings. We now expect Garena to grow double digit year-on-year, for both user base and bookings in 2025."

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

1

was 8.2%, as compared to 7.5% for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Full Year 2024 Highlights

2

year-on-year.

3

Unaudited Summary of Financial Results

(Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars "$" except for per share data)

For the Three Months

For the Full Year

ended December 31,

ended December 31,

2023

2024

2023

2024

$

$

YOY%

$

$

YOY%

Revenue

Service revenue

Digital Entertainment

510,773

519,064

1.6%

2,172,009

1,910,589

(12.0%)

E-commerce and other services

2,771,267

3,959,575

42.9%

9,770,376

13,350,674

36.6%

Sales of goods

334,588

471,797

41.0%

1,121,175

1,558,603

39.0%

3,616,628

4,950,436

36.9%

13,063,560

16,819,866

28.8%

Cost of revenue

Cost of service

Digital Entertainment

(161,360)

(159,065)

(1.4%)

(672,481)

(610,586)

(9.2%)

E-commerce and other services

(1,621,218)

(2,146,644)

32.4%

(5,530,043)

(7,553,801)

36.6%

Cost of goods sold

(309,263)

(439,267)

42.0%

(1,027,389)

(1,450,391)

41.2%

(2,091,841)

(2,744,976)

31.2%

(7,229,913)

(9,614,778)

33.0%

Gross profit

1,524,787

2,205,460

44.6%

5,833,647

7,205,088

23.5%

Other operating income

58,524

53,256

(9.0%)

221,021

180,443

(18.4%)

Sales and marketing expenses

(967,433)

(1,049,726)

8.5%

(2,779,223)

(3,472,686)

25.0%

General and administrative expenses

(232,603)

(366,259)

57.5%

(1,134,724)

(1,267,706)

11.7%

Provision for credit losses

(159,988)

(235,764)

47.4%

(633,942)

(776,937)

22.6%

Research and development expenses

(279,806)

(301,216)

7.7%

(1,164,126)

(1,206,050)

3.6%

Impairment of goodwill

-

-

-

(117,875)

-

-

Total operating expenses

(1,581,306)

(1,899,709)

20.1%

(5,608,869)

(6,542,936)

16.7%

Operating (loss) income

(56,519)

305,751

(641.0%)

224,778

662,152

194.6%

Non-operating income, net

31,654

28,222

(10.8%)

207,616

116,631

(43.8%)

Income tax expense

(76,894)

(89,198)

16.0%

(262,680)

(321,168)

22.3%

Share of results of equity investees

(9,856)

(7,183)

(27.1%)

(7,032)

(9,788)

39.2%

Net (loss) income

(111,615)

237,592

(312.9%)

162,682

447,827

175.3%

(Loss) Earnings per share attributable to

Sea Limited's ordinary shareholders:

Basic

(0.19)

0.41

(315.8%)

0.27

0.77

185.2%

Diluted

(0.19)

0.39

(305.3%)

0.25

0.74

196.0%

Change in deferred revenue of

Digital Entertainment

(54,459)

24,120

(144.3%)

(362,397)

238,077

(165.7%)

Adjusted EBITDA for Digital

Entertainment (1)

217,411

289,730

33.3%

920,923

1,199,166

30.2%

Adjusted EBITDA for E-commerce (1)

(225,332)

152,209

(167.5%)

(213,774)

155,775

(172.9%)

Adjusted EBITDA for Digital

Financial Services (1)

148,482

210,979

42.1%

550,112

712,242

29.5%

Adjusted EBITDA for Other Services (1)

(6,979)

(5,121)

(26.6%)

(44,880)

(30,305)

(32.5%)

Unallocated expenses (2)

(6,877)

(56,876)

727.0%

(33,199)

(74,998)

125.9%

Total adjusted EBITDA (1)

126,705

590,921

366.4%

1,179,182

1,961,880

66.4%

4

excluded from segment results as they are not reviewed by the Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") as part of segment performance.

5

Three Months Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Three Months Ended December 31, 2023

Revenue

Our total GAAP revenue increased by 36.9% to US$5.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 from US$3.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Cost of Revenue

Our total cost of revenue was US$2.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, as compared to US$2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Other Operating Income

Our other operating income was US$53.3 million and US$58.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 2023, respectively. Other operating income mainly consists of rebates from e-commerce related logistics services providers.

6

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Our total sales and marketing expenses increased by 8.5% to US$1.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 from US$967.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The table below sets forth breakdown of the sales and marketing expenses of our major reporting segments. Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars ("$").

For the Three Months

ended December 31,

2023

2024

YOY%

Sales and Marketing Expenses

$

$

E-commerce

878,985

853,919

(2.9%)

Digital Financial Services

51,927

121,036

133.1%

Digital Entertainment

29,926

44,528

48.8%

General and Administrative Expenses

Our general and administrative expenses increased by 57.5% to US$366.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from US$232.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, including one-time expenses related to the settlement of two securities class actions.

Provision for Credit Losses

Our provision for credit losses increased by 47.4% to US$235.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from US$160.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Research and Development Expenses

Our research and development expenses increased by 7.7% to US$301.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from US$279.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Non-operating Income or Losses, Net

Non-operating income or losses mainly consist of interest income, interest expense, investment gain (loss), foreign exchange gain (loss) and gain (loss) on debt extinguishment. We recorded a net non-operating income of US$28.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, as compared to a net non- operating income of US$31.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The non-operating income in the fourth quarter of 2024 was primarily due to interest income of US$94.0 million, partially offset by investment losses of US$60.7 million recognized.

Income Tax Expense

We had a net income tax expense of US$89.2 million and US$76.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Net Income or Loss

As a result of the foregoing, we had net income of US$237.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, as compared to net loss of US$(111.6) million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

7

Basic and Diluted Earnings or Loss Per Share Attributable to Sea Limited's Ordinary Shareholders

Basic earnings per share attributable to Sea Limited's ordinary shareholders was US$0.41 in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to basic loss per share attributable to Sea Limited's ordinary shareholders of US$(0.19) in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Diluted earnings per share attributable to Sea Limited's ordinary shareholders was US$0.39 in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to diluted loss per share attributable to Sea Limited's ordinary shareholders of US$(0.19) in the fourth quarter of 2023.

8

Full Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Full Year Ended December 31, 2023

Revenue

Our total GAAP revenue increased by 28.8% to US$16.8 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024 from US$13.1 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

Cost of Revenue

Our total cost of revenue was US$9.6 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to US$7.2 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

Other Operating Income

Our other operating income was US$180.4 million for the full year ended December 31, 2024 from US$221.0 million for the full year ended December 31, 2023. Other operating income mainly consists of rebates from e-commerce related logistics services providers.

9

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Our total sales and marketing expenses increased by 25.0% to US$3.5 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024 from US$2.8 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2023. The table below sets forth the breakdown of the sales and marketing expenses of our major reporting segments. Amounts are expressed in thousands of US dollars ("$").

For the Full Year

ended December 31,

2023

2024

YOY%

Sales and Marketing Expenses

$

$

E-commerce

2,510,693

2,966,084

18.1%

Digital Financial Services

116,445

298,386

156.2%

Digital Entertainment

104,721

117,556

12.3%

General and Administrative Expenses

Our general and administrative expenses increased by 11.7% to US$1.3 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024 from US$1.1 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

Provision for Credit Losses

Our provision for credit losses increased by 22.6% to US$776.9 million for the full year ended December 31, 2024 from US$633.9 million for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

Research and Development Expenses

Our research and development expenses were US$1.2 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024, flat year-on-year.

Impairment of Goodwill

We recorded nil impairment of goodwill for the full year ended December 31, 2024, compared to US$117.9 million for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

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Disclaimer

Sea Ltd. published this content on March 04, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on March 04, 2025 at 11:32:09.018.