May 14 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian technology firm Sea

Ltd ( SE ) beat estimates for first-quarter revenue on Tuesday,

driven by strong performance of e-commerce unit Shopee, sending

U.S.-listed shares of the company up 7% in premarket trading.

Analysts have said Shopee benefited from an early start of

Ramadan in the quarter, while Sea's digital business gained from

the popularity of online multi-player game Free Fire.

Sea's total revenue grew 23% to $3.73 billion in the quarter

ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of

$3.56 billion, according to LSEG data.

"Our results in the first quarter have given us a strong

start to 2024, and we are well on-track to deliver our full-year

guidance," CEO Forrest Li said in a statement.

The $37 billion-firm had a meteoric run in 2020 and 2021,

when pandemic-led demand lifted revenues and helped it expand

beyond the Southeast Asian markets.

However, a global economic slowdown forced Sea to streamline

businesses and cut thousands of jobs.

Exiting India, Europe and some Latin American markets, among

other initiatives, helped the company achieve its first annual

profit last year.

Sales from e-commerce, its biggest unit, grew 33% to $2.7

billion in the March quarter, compared with LSEG estimates of

$2.54 billion.

Bookings at its digital entertainment business, which

includes gaming platform Garena, were higher-than-expected at

$512.1 million, however, growth in its digital financial

services unit came in below expectations.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)