BEIJING (Reuters) -Tencent Holdings ( TCTZF ), China's biggest technology company by market capitalization, posted a 13% rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday, driven by growth in its gaming business.

Tencent ( TCTZF ), also the world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform, reported revenue of 180 billion yuan ($24.97 billion) for the quarter ended March 31.

The results exceeded the 174.6 billion yuan average estimate from analysts polled by LSEG.

Net profit for the quarter was 47.8 billion yuan, compared with analyst expectations of 52.2 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.

The revenue growth was primarily fuelled by robust performance in the gaming segment, as the company benefited from regulatory easing in China's gaming sector following stringent restrictions in previous years.

For the quarter, domestic gaming revenue rose by 24% to 42.9 billion yuan, while international gaming revenue climbed 23% to 16.6 billion yuan.

Key titles driving growth included "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile" launched in May 2024, and shooting game "Delta Force," which debuted in September.

($1 = 7.2086 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)