Alibaba takes mantle of most valuable company in Asia

A sign of Alibaba Group is seen at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2016 in Shanghai, May 12, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

On the back of a strong sales forecast, Alibaba has overtaken tech giant Tencent to become Asia's largest company by market value, Sina Tech reports.

Alibaba closed at $142.34 on Thursday, up 13.29 percent or $16.70 higher, vaulting its capitalization to $362.3 billion and surpassing Tencent's $332.3 billion.

At an investors conference in Hangzhou, Alibaba chief financial officer Maggie Wu said that the company expected revenue growth of 45 to 49 percent in the 2018 financial year.

The figure exceeded market expectations of 36 to 38 percent growth. Shares of Alibaba jumped 7.1 percent to $134.50 in pre-market trading as investors were pleased with the revenue forecast.

At the same investors day last year, the company predicted 48 percent revenue growth for 2017 which was subsequently revised up to 53 percent growth, and eventually posted 56 percent revenue growth.

Last month, Alibaba released its 2017 financial year report, showing the company has overtaken Tencent in some core indicators, such as revenue, profit and cash flow.

Wu said the optimism behind the revenue forecast comes on the back of improving technologies which is providing more content that enhances the level of engagement for customers and their resulting loyalty to its various platforms.

Wu added the company would reinvest funds to expand its consumer base, improve customer's experience of its products, in a bid to gain the B2C market share.

He Wei contributed to this story.