NEW York-listed Sea is in the black for the first time, recording US$422.8 million in net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31. This marks a turnaround from the US$616.3 million loss in the year-ago period.

The profitable quarter was in part due to a US$199.7 million net gain on debt extinguishment, as the company repurchased US$817.2 million of convertible senior notes for US$611.3 million in cash. Sea also reversed US$130 million in previous accruals for certain expenses, amid its aggressive cost cuts and layoffs over the past year.

Its Q4 sales and marketing expenses decreased by 61.2 per cent to US$473.6 million, with cost cuts across all business segments. Research and development expenses were down 14.8 per cent to US$244.2 million.