E-commerce hot slides amid antitrust investigation in Indonesia

Antitrust authorities in Indonesia are investigating whether Sea limited liability company (SE) unfairly favored its own delivery services for orders placed on the Shopee e-commerce platform. U.S.-listed Sea shares fell in the news on Tuesday and posted big gains.

Indonesia’s antitrust authority KPPU announced the opening of an investigation on Tuesday. Shoppers in Indonesia can choose which company delivers their purchases, and Indonesian officials say Sea has developed an algorithm that favors its own service over other options, according to a Bloomberg report. The report shows Shopee is scheduled to answer at a hearing on June 11. Shopee may be fined or required to make other changes if it is found to have violated the rules.

A Sea official told Bloomberg that Shopee “is committed to complying with all applicable laws and legislation in the Republic of Indonesia.”

Lazada, the local e-commerce arm of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba (BABA) is also under investigation, according to a Bloomberg report.

On the stock exchange today, Sea’s stock fell over 7% to 66.67. According to MarketSurge, this decline causes the stock to hover below Sea Sea’s 21-day moving average.

Marine resources: more than 80% increase this year.

After a bumpy 2023, maritime stocks have surged, rising more than 80% in the first five months of the year. Shares of the Singapore internet services company have been helped by the perception that it is fending off e-commerce competitors from China such as Alibaba and PDD holdings (PDD) in its key markets, including Indonesia. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company based in China, is also a competitor in Indonesia.

Earlier this month, Sea shares gained after the company saw better-than-expected sales in the first quarter ending in March.

Shopee is Sea’s largest company. The company’s total e-commerce revenue grew 33% year-over-year to $2.7 billion in the first quarter. E-commerce revenues grew 23% year-over-year in December.

Shopee serves Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Sea also owns digital payments provider SeaMoney and Garena, a global online gaming company.

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Shares of Sea Ltd. are soaring as e-commerce growth fuels a better-than-expected first quarter