But where Tencent is immensely profitable, Sea is immensely unprofitable – with signs that losses may grow deeper. Tencent’s net profit margin in the first half of the year was 31%, with net income of US$4.76 billion on revenue of US$15.5 billion. Sea has a negative net margin of 84%, with a loss of US$165.2 million on revenue of US$195.5 million.
(Oct 12): Singapore’s Sea initially modelled itself on Chinese internet colossus Tencent Holdings. and is often called the Tencent of Southeast Asia. Now that Sea has filed for an initial public offering and given a peak at its financials, the resemblance is starting to break down.
The company, seeking to raise about US$700 million ($954.5 million) as it goes public in New York, does offer games and digital entertainment like Tencent. In fact, the Chinese company licenses hit games like League of Legends to Sea, and owns about 40% of the smaller firm’s stock.
