Sea to make Shopee prices more competitive, build digital banking services after first year in the black
FOLLOWING the announcement of its first profitable year, New York Stock Exchange-listed Sea said that it will improve the price competitiveness of its product listings on its e-commerce platform Shopee, and build its digital banking and insurance services under its payment arm, SeaMoney, to “capture new, exciting opportunities”.
In an e-mail to its employees on Monday (Mar 4), which was seen by The Business Times, Sea’s chairman and group chief executive officer Forrest Li said the company should continue its “deep commitment” to improving the lives and experiences of its users.
The company had earlier announced its financial results for 2023. It booked its first profitable year since it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, with earnings of US$162.7 million; revenue for the period jumped to US$13.1 billion from US$12.4 billion a year prior.
In the e-mail, Li said that 2023 had been “a year of intense execution” across its businesses.
The company’s main businesses are its e-commerce platform, Shopee, its digital payment business, SeaMoney, and its game-developer business, Garena.
Li said that Sea ended 2023 with an “even stronger cash position” than 2022. This was a testament to the discipline and prudence Sea had applied to its investments, he added.
“Shopee delivered growth and market share gain despite heightened competition. SeaMoney posted very robust growth in both revenue and user base, posting strong financial results alongside a healthy risk profile,” he added.
Garena also maintained “solid user traction”, and its multiplayer mobile game Free Fire maintained its status as one of the most popular mobile games in the world.
Li said that Sea’s “relentless user centricity”, where it puts its customers first, has been key to its achievements.
He noted that last year, Shopee improved its end-to-end experience for both buyers and sellers, and that SeaMoney extended its product offerings. Garena also continued to deliver fresh, highly localised content to users.
“This deep commitment to improving our users’ lives and experiences should continue to be at the core of our strategies going forward,” said Li.
He said that this year, Shopee has begun work to improve service quality for buyers, enhance its product listings’ price competitiveness, and enrich its content ecosystem.
SeaMoney is continuing to acquire users both on and off Shopee, and is building its digital banking and insurance services to capture new opportunities.
Meanwhile, Garena is exploring new ways to produce better content and optimise user experience, added Li.
The progress in both growth and profitability across all its three businesses has given Sea a strong foundation to build on this year, said Li.
