Sea CEO Signals Possible Monee IPO as Second-Quarter Revenue Grows 58.9%
Key Facts
Forrest Li, chief executive of Sea, raised the possibility of an initial public offering for its financial services arm Monee in an internal memo to employees. Investing.com, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that Li sees the unit nearing the point where it can operate independently. Talk of a potential listing comes as the group's financial business expands and the unit's revenue grows in the second quarter of 2026. According to Reuters, which reviewed the memo, Li linked the move to giving Monee the resources and room to expand faster. Monee is the new name for the financial services arm previously known as SeaMoney, according to the group's rebranding announcement.
Monee's second-quarter revenue reached $1.4 billion, up 58.9% year on year, according to Sea's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. First-quarter revenue was $1.2 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 57.8%. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached $288.0 million in the second quarter, up 12.8% from the same period a year earlier. Those earnings stood at $275.2 million in the first quarter, when they posted year-on-year growth of 14.0%. Year-on-year revenue growth thus accelerated between the periods, while adjusted earnings growth slowed, remaining below the pace of revenue growth in both quarters.
On lending, outstanding principal on consumer and small and medium-sized enterprise loans reached $11.1 billion at the end of the second quarter, according to the group's filing. The portfolio grew 62.5% year on year and includes loans both on and off the balance sheet. At the end of the first quarter, outstanding loan principal stood at $9.9 billion. Portfolio growth was then 71.3% year on year, with loans continuing to rise in value in the following quarter while their annual growth rate slowed. At the end of the second quarter, non-performing loans more than 90 days past due accounted for 1.0% of consumer and small and medium-sized enterprise loan principal, including loans both on and off the balance sheet.
Sea attributed Monee's first-quarter revenue growth primarily to the expansion of its credit business. The group said in its filing that "our lending activities increased," explaining the growth driver during that period. The expansion strategy includes providing financial services for uses beyond the Shopee platform, according to Li's commentary accompanying the first-quarter results. When announcing the second-quarter results, Li described Monee's position on its expansion path by saying: "We are still in the early stages of growth." He added that credit penetration remained low in the markets where the unit operates, linking his comments on growth to the characteristics of those markets.
Monee provides digital wallets and payment processing services, according to Sea's description of its financial arm's activities. Its businesses also include credit, banking and insurance technology, alongside payment services. The unit serves users in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to the group's branding announcement. Its services also extend to Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. Its markets also include Brazil, with the unit providing financial services to users in Asian markets and the Brazilian market, while its expansion strategy includes uses beyond the Shopee platform.
At the parent-group level, Sea's second-quarter revenue reached $7.8 billion, according to its earnings filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Group revenue rose 48.1% from the same period a year earlier. Monee's revenue growth thus outpaced that of its parent group, alongside discussions of the unit's ability to operate independently. As for carrying out the potential listing, Li provided no timetable in the memo, according to Investing.com's account of the Wall Street Journal report. He also gave no details of the offering, leaving the move as a possibility under consideration.