On November 26, trucks were loading and unloading goods in Baigou Xincheng East Logistics Park, Hebei Province (drone photo) Xinhua News Agency
Real-time monitoring data from the Express Big Data Platform of the State Post Bureau shows that at 18:00 on December 4, an express package sent from Kunming, Yunnan to Chengdu, Sichuan became the 120 billionth express item in 2023. Since 2021, my country's express delivery annual business volume has continuously exceeded 100 billion pieces, and has now exceeded the 120 billion piece mark for the first time, highlighting the prosperity and activeness of my country's express delivery market, the continuous improvement of development quality and efficiency, and the continued improvement of my country's consumer market. situation.
This year is a critical year for the recovery of the express delivery industry. Leading express delivery companies have made great efforts in both the domestic mass market and overseas incremental markets. In the domestic market, improving the level of digitization and automation has become the key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency; in the international market, express delivery companies are actively exploring incremental markets through capital operations, ecological construction and other methods. Overall, the development trend of the express delivery industry is picking up and improving.
The business of A-share express delivery companies is picking up and improving
Nearly all leading companies in my country’s express delivery field are listed companies. The express service brand concentration index CR8 released by the State Post Bureau from January to October this year (including 8 companies including SF Express, STO, YTO, Yunda, ZTO, BEST, JD.com, and Postal Service) was 84.1. Among them, SF Express Holdings, STO Express, YTO Express, and Yunda Express are all A-share listed companies.
Since the beginning of this year, the domestic express delivery industry has enjoyed good development momentum. From January to October, the national postal industry completed a total of 129.72 billion pieces of mailing business, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. Among them, the express delivery business volume (excluding the parcel business of the Postal Group) has completed a total of 105.17 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 17.0%.
The latest disclosed data from the four A-share express companies shows that YTO Express leads the way with a cumulative business volume of 16.898 billion pieces from January to October, followed by Yunda Express (14.974 billion pieces), STO Express (13.996 billion pieces) and SF Express Holdings (9.594 billion pieces). A reporter from Shanghai Securities News noticed that the cumulative business volume of these four companies in the first 10 months all achieved year-on-year growth, with STO Express growing at a rate of 32.3%.
In terms of revenue, in October this year, SF Express Holdings achieved express delivery service revenue of 15.468 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.80% (excluding Fengwang); YTO Express achieved express delivery service revenue of 4.493 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.47%; Yunda Co., Ltd. achieved express delivery service revenue 3.890 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.67%; STO Express achieved express delivery service revenue of 3.545 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.88%.
Since the beginning of this year, the single-ticket revenue of A-share logistics companies has continued to decline, which is related to the periodic overcapacity of the entire express delivery industry. In the third quarter of this year, the single ticket price of YTO Express was 2.33 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.9%; the single ticket revenue of Yunda Co., Ltd. was 2.22 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.2%; the single ticket revenue of STO Express was 2.12 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.5%. However, after the divestiture of low-priced Fengwang, SF Holding's single-ticket revenue increased by 5.8% year-on-year to 16.73 yuan.
According to market analysts, the decline in single ticket prices of express delivery companies is affected by the product structure and average weight on the one hand, and the result of market price competition in the off-season on the other hand. However, some voices believe that the e-commerce express delivery industry no longer has the basis for a large-scale price war across the entire network. It is expected that industry supervision will be supported by the profit demands of terminal franchisees, and there will be room for recovery in industry prices. The market will be overly worried about price competition.
Cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the core driving force of the industry
As the "price war" among express delivery companies ceases in 2022, the industry will usher in a recovery period in 2023. Today, the extensive growth model of “price-for-volume” is no longer in line with the market environment. Consumers and businesses are paying more and more attention to the quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of express delivery services. Based on this trend, cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the focus of A-share express delivery companies.
Taking Yunda Co., Ltd. as an example, the company continues to strengthen its core position in express delivery through reasonable contraction of peripheral businesses and optimization of resources, and promotes orderly improvement of expenses during the operating period while maintaining efficient operation of all links. In the first three quarters of this year, the company's four expenses fell by 359 million yuan year-on-year; in the third quarter, the four expenses fell by 194 million yuan, a significant year-on-year improvement. In the first three quarters of this year, the company's net profit increased by 56% year-on-year.
At the same time, Yunda has achieved remarkable results in digital transformation. By predicting order volume during peak seasons and monitoring all links, we ensure the smooth development of all subsequent services. Data from multiple e-commerce platforms shows that during the "Double 11" period, Yunda was in the first echelon in terms of timely collection rate, acceptance rate, shipment share and other indicators, and even ranked first on some platforms.
The transportation cost of a single ticket of YTO Express in the first half of the year was 0.47 yuan, a decrease of 0.05 yuan or 9.15% compared with the same period last year. The company's single ticket center operating cost was 0.30 yuan, a decrease of 0.02 yuan or 4.59% compared with the same period last year. The company said that since this year, the company has focused on refined cost management and integrated the entire network to reduce costs and increase efficiency. In addition, the company continues to optimize the fleet size and vehicle model structure, increase the proportion of drop-and-trailer vehicles and large transport vehicles, and consolidate the foundation of its own transportation capacity.
Operation optimization is also a key task of SF Holding this year. Taking the improvement of transfer efficiency as an example, in the first half of the year, the company put into use 45 automation equipment projects, and a total of 131 sets of automation equipment were invested. By reducing the labor intensity of operators, regional operations were unmanned and with fewer people, thereby reducing overall personnel investment; combined with transfer Lean management measures such as field diagnosis, process optimization, and resource integration have achieved a 6.4% year-on-year increase in per capita efficiency in the transfer process. In addition, SF Holding is also focusing on areas such as line integration, improving land transportation utilization, and improving customer satisfaction to further improve resource utilization efficiency and continue to optimize costs.
The reporter learned from Zhongtong Express that this year, thanks to standardization and digital management measures, the company's single ticket sorting and transportation costs have dropped by 11%, and the proportion of sales and management expenses in revenue has stabilized at around 5%.
Capital operations in the express delivery industry were active during the year
"Going public in Hong Kong" is undoubtedly one of the keywords in the express delivery industry this year.
On October 27, Jitu was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising net funds of approximately HK$3.528 billion. About 30% of the funds raised will be used to expand the logistics network, upgrade infrastructure and strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia and other existing markets. Sorting and warehousing capabilities and capacity; approximately 30% will be used to develop new markets and expand service scope; approximately 30% will be used for research and development and technological innovation; approximately 10% will be used for general corporate purposes and working capital needs.
In addition, SF Express and Cainiao submitted listing applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August and September respectively.
According to the prospectus submitted by Cainiao, the company has grown from an initial technology platform into a global smart logistics network, directly building and operating a number of key facilities in strategic locations, including two comprehensive e-commerce logistics hubs (e-Hub), 1100 It has multiple warehouses, more than 380 logistics distribution centers and 170,000 stations around the world. In fiscal year 2023, Cainiao's total revenue is 77.8 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 21% in the past three years.
According to the vision of Tsai Chongxin, chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Group and chairman of Cainiao Group, Cainiao will continue to build a global logistics network based on its Chinese roots and focusing on the global market.
No coincidence. SF Holdings also stated that its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is to further promote its international strategy, create an international capital operation platform, enhance its international brand image, and improve its comprehensive competitiveness. The funds raised by SF Express this time will be used to strengthen international and cross-border logistics capabilities, enhance and optimize China's logistics network and services, develop advanced technologies and digital solutions, upgrade its supply chain and logistics services and implement ESG-related initiatives, as well as For working capital and general corporate purposes.
The privatization of Best Group is also one of the important capital operations in the industry this year. Best Group announced in November that the company's board of directors has received a preliminary non-binding privatization proposal with a signing date of November 3, 2023. Public information shows that Alibaba is still the largest shareholder of Best Group, holding approximately 32.7% of Best Group’s equity. Best Group made it clear in the announcement at that time that the company had not made any decision on the proposal or proposed transaction, and could not guarantee that the buyer would make a final formal acquisition offer, nor could it ensure that any transaction would be concluded in the future.
