NYSE-listed Sea Ltd’s net income nearly doubled to $410.8 million in the first three months of 2025 from $237.6 million in the previous quarter, powered by double-digit revenue growth recorded by all three key verticals—gaming, e-commerce, and digital financial services. The Singapore-based tech giant had posted a $23-million net loss in the year-ago period.
Shopee, its e-commerce business, registered the highest adjusted EBITDA growth for the quarter at $264.4 million, reversing last year’s $21.7-million loss.
Meanwhile, its gaming unit Garena hit an adjusted EBITDA of $458.2 million, 56.8% higher than last year’s $292.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA of the digital financial services arm, which was recently rebranded to Monee from SeaMoney, grew 62.4% to $241.4 million from $148.7 million in 2024.
Total adjusted EBITDA of the group more than doubled to $946.5 million in Q1 2025 from $401.1 million in Q1 2024.
“We have delivered another great quarter of strong growth with improving profitability across all three businesses. Our strong start to the year gives us more confidence of achieving our full-year guidance,” said Forrest Li, Sea’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Sea’s businesses also pulled in more money for their top line this year compared to the same period last year.
Across all its verticals, e-commerce remains its main moneymaker, with $3.5 billion in revenue, up 28% year on year. Digital financial services pitched in with 787.1 million, up 57.6% over Q1 2024, while Garena’s bookings grew 51% to $775.4 million during the period.
Li attributed the strong first-quarter growth across the company’s core businesses to effective strategies and execution. He highlighted that Shopee maintained its market leadership in Asia and Brazil by enhancing price competitiveness, service quality, and content offerings. He also said the fintech arm, Monee, delivered strong growth, supporting the company’s continued focus on risk management for long-term resilience.
Meanwhile, he said, the digital entertainment segment saw a strong rebound, driven by Free Fire’s successful collaboration with Naruto, which significantly boosted user engagement.
The strong topline growth more than offset higher costs for the company during the quarter. Sea’s total cost of revenue was $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Cost of revenue rose across all segments due to increased logistic costs from higher e-commerce volumes, expanded infrastructure and interest costs in digital finance, and higher royalties in gaming, the company said.
