Sea Group logs minimal revenue growth in Q2, misses estimates

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Sea Group registered US$3.1 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2023, yet it fell short of analyst estimates of US$3.2 billion.

The logged amount marks a 5.2% increase year on year, and at time of writing, Sea Group’s pre-market share prices are down about 11%.

Nonetheless, Shopee continued to be the biggest money maker for the group, generating US$2.32 billion in revenue for Q2 2023. The ecommerce platform has continued on its profitability streak, posting US$150.3 million in adjusted earnings.

“We have not only achieved self-sufficiency, but also demonstrated the profitability of our model,” Forrest Li, Sea’s chairman and group CEO, said in a statement. “We have started, and will continue, to ramp up our investments in growing the ecommerce business across our markets.”

Meanwhile, Sea Group’s relatively low revenue gains in Q2 were mainly due to a 41.2% year-over-year revenue decrease in its digital entertainment arm, which operates Garena. The group attributed the decline to “moderation in user engagement and monetization year on year.”

Overall, Sea slashed its total sales and marketing expenses in the quarter in half compared to Q2 2022.

The regional tech giant also recently invested US$172.5 million into its MariBank, signaling a bigger push into the Singapore digibanking space. Competitors GXS Bank and Trust Bank already had a head start against Sea, with both launching late last year.

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