On April 30, with the disclosure of the 2021 annual report by Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) (hereinafter referred to as ” Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) “, Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) . SZ), all listed companies in the express industry handed over their 2021 performance answers.
The reporter of China Business Daily found that under the influence of stricter regulatory policies, the development environment of the express industry ushered in an inflection point in 2021, leading listed companies have announced to withdraw from the “price war”, and the express price has gradually returned to rationality. As the express industry gradually shifts from price competition to value competition, leading express companies timely adjust their competitive strategies and pay more attention to product differentiation layout and service quality improvement.
At the same time, the performance growth of most express companies began to pick up, and the market share of leading express companies was further concentrated. Among them, the market share of “Tongda” express companies such as Zhongtong Express (Cayman) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongtong express”, 02057. HK), Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) (hereinafter referred to as ” Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) “, Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) . SH), Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) (hereinafter referred to as ” Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) “, Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) . SZ) increased slightly.
collective growth of operating income
In 2021, the single ticket price of express delivery picked up, and the performance growth of most express delivery companies recovered significantly. The operating revenue growth of “Tongda” express company and Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) (hereinafter referred to as ” Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) “, Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) . SH) exceeded that of 2020. Among them, Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) and Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) revenue returned to positive growth.
In terms of business volume, in 2021, the annual package volume of Zhongtong express, Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) , Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) and Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) were 22.3 billion, 18.4 billion, 16.5 billion and 11 billion respectively, with market share of 20.6%, 16.99%, 15.28% and 10.23% respectively. Compared with 2020, the ranking of the top three in the industry remained unchanged, and the market share increased steadily, while the market share of Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) ranked fourth decreased.
In terms of business volume growth rate, Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) increased by 30.76% year-on-year, ranking first among “Tongda” express delivery companies. In terms of operating revenue, based on the unaudited financial performance report of the whole year of 2021 previously released by Zhongtong express, the operating revenue of Zhongtong express, Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) , Yuantong express, Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) and Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) 2021 was 30.406 billion yuan, 41.729 billion yuan, 45.155 billion yuan, 31.359 billion yuan and 25.255 billion yuan respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 20.6%, 24.56%, 29.36%, 14.02% and 17.10% respectively.
Compared with the general pressure on the profits of express enterprises in 2020, this phenomenon will be alleviated in 2021. The adjusted net profit of Zhongtong express in 2021 was 4.95 billion yuan, and the growth rate returned to positive growth, with a year-on-year increase of 7.8% Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 1.477 billion yuan, the growth rate returned to positive growth, with a year-on-year increase of 5.15% Yto Express Group Co.Ltd(600233) the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 2.103 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 19.06%, and the growth rate was further expanded.
However, Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) was still greatly affected by the “price war” in 2021. Although the operating revenue achieved positive growth in that year, the net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was 909 million yuan, a sharp decrease of 260316% year-on-year.
As for the reasons for performance changes, Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) said in the annual report that in the first three quarters of 2021, the business volume of national express service enterprises completed 76.77 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 36.7%; The revenue of single express delivery was 9.68 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11%, and the price competition was fierce. “In order to maintain the healthy development of express delivery network and enhance the customer expansion and service capacity of franchise outlets, the company appropriately adjusted the support of market policies during this period, resulting in the decline of the company’s single ticket express revenue, which has a certain impact on the annual performance.”
For the performance of the first three quarters of 2021, Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) further explained that due to the impact of site relocation, project completion delay and other factors, the overall single volume throughput scale is limited, resulting in high operating costs and low capacity utilization, which has affected the performance of the company to a certain extent.
Similar to Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) in 2021, Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) operating revenue, which focuses on the bulk express market, achieved year-on-year growth, but the net profit is still under pressure. According to the financial report data, in 2021, Deppon Logistics Co.Ltd(603056) the net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was 143 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 74.69%; The net profit after deducting non recurring profit and loss was a loss of 208 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 198.57%.
Logistics industry expert Yang Daqing told reporters that there are two main factors affecting the performance of head express companies in 2021: the first is the recovery of express demand and incremental expansion. China’s rapid economic recovery after taking the lead in effectively controlling the covid-19 pneumonia epidemic in the world has provided opportunities for the demand for production logistics and life logistics. The increment of rural market and overseas market has also provided a new growth engine for express companies. Second, the “de Involution” competition is conducive to the orderly development of the industry.
“In 2021, the State Post Office and the State Administration of market supervision and other aspects worked together to promote the ‘deconvolution’ competition in the express market, curb the vicious price war and restore orderly competition among express companies.” Yang Daqing believes that under the influence of the “de Involution” competition and the epidemic in 2021, some small and medium-sized express companies and cross-border enterprises have either been integrated or withdrawn from the competition, which has improved the relative concentration of the express market, and the express enterprises have stepped out of the mire of vicious price war competition, so as to strengthen the service quality and expand the service value chain.
