Shopee, Monee power Sea’s value to over US$100 billion; DBS only other Singapore company in that league

[SINGAPORE] Sea Ltd soared on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as investors excited by its second-quarter earnings jump poured into the counter.

It rose above US$30 at 11.22 am New York time on Tuesday (Aug 12), before closing 18.9 per cent or US$27.89 higher at US$174.12.

Its shares are up 64.1 per cent in the year to date and have quadrupled since its low of US$34.82 at the start of 2024.

The company reported a 418.3 per cent increase in its second-quarter earnings to US$414.2 million, from US$79.9 million in the year-ago period.

It has a market capitalisation greater than US$100 billion, with a valuation of US$103.1 billion. This marks the first time two Singapore companies have been simultaneously north of the milestone, with the other being DBS at US$112.7 billion.

The jump in earnings was driven by 38.2 per cent revenue growth to US$5.3 billion for the quarter, largely due to the performance of Sea’s e-commerce arm Shopee and digital financial services arm Monee.

Shopee is the largest e-commerce platform in South-east Asia, with operations also in Taiwan and Brazil.

Revenue for Shopee grew 33.6 per cent, while Monee sales rose 70 per cent in Q2 to US$882.8 million and bookings at gaming division Garena rose 23.2 per cent.

Sea’s digital financial services arm Monee saw total loans outstanding of US$6.9 billion.

The earnings report also highlighted the surge in “off-Shopee loans” — cash loans and BNPL originated outside the Shopee platform. With a NPL 90+ ratio of just 1 per cent, Monee’s operational discipline and risk control capabilities are on full display, according to Momentum Works.

Malaysia joined Indonesia and Thailand as the third Monee market with a loanbook above US$1 billion.

Sea chief executive Forrest Li said in a statement that the company will continue to prioritise growth to maximise its long-term profitability.