E-commerce business shows strong growth, "Southeast Asia's little Tencent" Sea's (SE.US) Q4 revenue exceeds expectations.

Thanks to the strong growth of the financial services sector and the e-commerce platform Shopee, Sea (SE.US), known as the "Tencent of Southeast Asia," announced better-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Data shows that the company's Q4 revenue increased by 36.9% to $4.95 billion, higher than analysts' expectations of $4.62 billion. Indonesia's leading e-commerce platform Shopee has attracted a large number of users and has become a key driver of growth for its parent company, Sea. Sea's e-commerce sector accounts for more than two-thirds of the company's total business, and revenue increased by 41.3% due to increased consumer spending during the holiday season. Risk investment and insights firm Momentum Works believes that Shopee's "Save Money" brand image may be difficult for emerging competitors to surpass. Sea stated on Tuesday that it expects double-digit percentage growth in its digital entertainment business, Garena, in terms of user base and bookings for the year. Garena offers popular games like "Free Fire." Expanding into digital financial and entertainment businesses has greatly benefited this Singapore-based company. Data shows that Sea's digital financial services sector saw revenue growth of 55.2%, exceeding analysts' expectations of 35.3% growth. This sector includes digital payments and financial services provider SeaMoney. In September of last year, Sea announced a partnership with YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, which allows Indonesian users to purchase products recommended on YouTube through direct links on Shopee. As of the time of writing, Sea's stock has risen by 7.32% in pre-market trading, after briefly rising by 13%.