Sea’s eventful Q3

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Hello readers,

Good news: Sea, the parent company of Garena and Shopee, released its earnings report yesterday and the numbers are looking chef’s kiss good, with robust growth in both revenue and profit seen in Q3.

Bad news: I finally signed up for a Shopee account on November 11 (because, sales) and now I can’t stop shopping.

Today, we look at:

• The numbers behind Sea and Shopee’s profitability milestones.
• Reliance’s new mammoth fundraise
• Other newsy highlights such as recent acquisitions made by Baidu and Flipkart

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Sea scores profitability goal

Singapore’s largest homegrown internet company has been grinding. Valued at over US$85 billion today, Sea has been profitable for two straight quarters on an adjusted EBITDA basis.

• Shopee’s growth: Sea’s ecommerce arm saw higher revenue in Q3, which kept its adjusted EBITDA on par with Q2’s numbers. Shopee’s gross orders are also up by 131% year on year, clocking in at 741.6 million orders last quarter.
• Garena continues to be the leader: The group’s gaming business has been spurring Sea’s growth spurt for some time, and it’s not slowing down. Garena’s Q3 bookings (money collected immediately from users) was US$944.7 million, up 110% year on year.
• The small but mighty SeaMoney: Sea has been putting a lot of marketing budget on Shopee’s e-wallet, and it’s possibly working: SeaMoney has been gaining traction, with its total payment value hitting US$2.1 billion in Q3.

Dive into the numbers and charts: Shopee hits profitability milestone; Sea in the black for 2 straight quarters

NEWS SPOTLIGHT

Reliance just keeps growing

One mammoth fundraise ain’t enough so Reliance is out to set another. After raising US$25.7 billion for its digital arm Jio Platforms, the India-based conglomerate is starting its funding run for its retail unit Reliance Retail.