Sea also announced the retirement of group president and director Nicholas A. Nash, and the appointment of a new director
NYSE-listed internet company Sea today announced the company’s financial results for the last quarter and full year of 2017.
Formerly known as Garena, the company revealed a 58.6 per cent year-on-year (YOY) growth of total adjusted revenue from US$348.9 million to US$553.6 million.
In Q4 2017, the company’s total adjusted revenue was US$164.5 million, up 72.8 per cent YOY from US$95.2 million for Q4 2016 and up 8.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) from US$151.9 million for Q3 2017.
Sea Founder, Chairman and Group CEO Forrest Li said that the company had “a strong year with substantial growth” across all its business lines in seven markets.
Sea also announced the retirement of Group President and Director Nicholas A. Nash by the end of 2018, following his retirement from the company’s board last week. Nash will continue to advise Li on the company’s long-term strategic priorities during the period before his retirement.
The company has also appointed Group CFO Tony Tianyu Hou as its new director.
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The following is details on each business unit’s progress in 2017 and plans for 2018:
Garena
Sea’s digital entertainment business Garena recorded adjusted revenue of US$495.9 million, up 49.7 per cent YOY from US$331.3
million for the full year of 2016.
In Q4 2017, its adjusted revenue of US$141.9 million, up 59.2 per cent YOY from US$89.1 million for Q4 2016 and up 5.3 per cent QOQ from US$134.7 million for Q3 2017.
It has also secured 87.8 million quarterly active users (QAU), which the company said to be a 74.2 per cent YOY increase from 50.4 million for Q4 2016 and up 27.2 per cent QOQ from 69.0 million for Q3 2017.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) was US$1.6 compared to US$1.8 for Q4 2016 and US$2.0 for Q3 2017.
“Arena of Valor continues to be extremely popular, reaching over 10 million daily active users. We are also very happy with the release of our fully self-developed battle royale game Free Fire in December. Free Fire has already reached over six million daily active users around the world,” Li said.
Garena said that it will continue to further expand its game development capabilities and strengthen partnership with game development studios.
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Shopee
Sea’s e-commerce platform Shopee recorded an adjusted revenue of US$17.7 million in 2017.
In Q4 2017, the business unit’s adjusted revenue was US$9.3 million, up 61.6 per cent QOQ from US$5.8 million. There was no e-commerce adjusted revenue for Q4 2016.
The company’s GMV was US$4.1 billion, 257.5 per cent YOY increase from US$1.2 billion for the full year of 2016.
Its gross orders reached 244.8 million, a 231.7 per cent YOY increase from 73.8 million for the full year of 2016.
Shopee credited the growth to its “on-the-ground” marketing efforts to attract potential buyers and sellers in its focus categories.
“Shopee’s growth is testament to the success of our mobile marketplace strategy. It is also driven by our focus on female, long-tail categories; such as fashion, and health & beauty,” Li said.
“I am especially pleased that we are now seeing greater efficiency in our spending, with sales and marketing spend as a percentage of GMV decreasing to 8.3 per cent in 2017, compared to 11 per cent in 2016,” he added.
Shopee also claimed to have made “encouraging” progress with its monetisation efforts, having launched performance-based advertising tools in all markets it operates in. It has also charged transaction-based commissions to sellers in Taiwan and for cross-border transactions, and invested in supporting brands that are opening their official stores on Shopee Mall.
The company plans to introduce new services including fulfillment services.
AirPay
Sea’s digital financial service AirPay experienced 249.2 per cent YOY gross transaction value (GTV) growth from US$614.4 million to reach US$2.1 billion.
In Q4 2017, its GTV grew 310.7 per cent YOY from US$250.2 million, and 129.3 per cent QOQ from US$448.2 million to reach US$1.0 billion.
Sea aims to continue building AirPay’s infrastructure to support its existing platforms and improving user experience. One of the ways to achieve this is by deepening integration of the payment service with Shopee.
“We are working to broaden the foundations of our digital financial services business for expanding into new markets. We are also improving user experience for consumers in our established markets,” Li said.
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