Sea Ltd’s loss widens on investment in Shopee e-commerce platform

SINGAPORE: Sea Ltd, operator of South-East Asia’s biggest gaming platform, posted a wider quarterly loss as it invests in building up e-commerce platform Shopee.

The net loss was US$250.8mil in the three months ended June compared with a loss of US$92.1mil a year earlier, Singapore-based Sea said in an emailed statement. Total revenue at the company rose to US$183.8mil from US$101.5mil.

Sea, which counts Chinese giant Tencent Holdings Ltd as its biggest shareholder, has struggled with losses since an initial public offering in October amid widening losses.

The company has invested heavily to expand beyond games into payments and e-commerce, where Shopee takes on Tokopedia and Lazada, both of which are backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Both of the Alibaba-backed companies led Shopee in Indonesia in the June quarter, according to iPrice Group.

Lazada was the largest e-commerce operator in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, based on average monthly web visits. In Singapore, Qoo10 topped the list, followed by Lazada and Shopee.

Revenue at digital entertainment unit Garena grew 18% to US$108mil during the quarter, aided by game development and efforts to move to mobile titles. In June, 73% of its adjusted revenue from digital entertainment came from mobile games, while 13% was generated by self-developed games such as Free Fire.

“New titles such as Free Fire are off to a strong start and should contribute more in the rest of the year,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman.

As for digital financial services, the company obtained an e-money licence in Indonesia earlier this month, chief strategy officer Alan Hellawell said during a conference call.

The licence typically allows companies to carry out e-wallet services in Indonesia and could open up options for its AirPay financial services business.