March 17 - Alibaba.com Ltd , China's largest e-commerce company, posted a record quarterly net profit of 410 million yuan ($62 million), beating expectations on higher new membership signups.

The Alibaba.com logo at the Alibaba.com headquarters in Hangzhou, China

October-December net profit rose 46 percent from 281.15 million yuan a year earlier. That was also higher than an average forecast of 387.32 million yuan from five analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales of Alibaba.com, a unit of Alibaba Group , 40 percent owned by Yahoo Inc , are closely tied to China's exports as its website connects millions of international buyers with Chinese suppliers.

Alibaba.com's shares ended down 4.17 percent before the results were announced. They have gained about 3 percent this year, outperforming a 2 percent fall in the Hang Seng Index .

(Reporting by Melanie Lee and Raymond Leung in Hong Kong ; Editing by Chris Lewis)