Leading Courier SF Delivers Strong Results

(Beijing) — Leading parcel delivery company SF Holding Co. Ltd. said on Monday its profit nearly quadrupled last year on booming demand from the e-commerce sector, in the first earnings report since its wildly successful backdoor listing last month in Shenzhen.

Shares of SF Holding, parent of SF Express, were down 3% in morning trade in Shenzhen after publication of its maiden report following the Feb. 24 debut of its newly named stock. But the shares are still up about 50% since the listing, helping to make founder Dick Wong one of China’s richest men.

SF Holding said its net profit rose to 4.2 billion yuan ($608 million) in 2016, from 1.1 billion in 2015. It noted that excluding extraordinary items, it would have posted an annual profit last year of 2.6 billion yuan, or more than triple the 754 million yuan from 2015. Last year’s revenue rose by a more-modest 19.5% to 57.5 billion yuan.

The company noted that after rapidly developing on China’s boom in e-commerce, the nation’s parcel-delivery industry has begun consolidating around the eight major players with the greatest scale and efficiency.

“As an exemplary company in the domestic courier business, SF is focused on differentiating itself by concentrating on the high end of the market,” the company said in a statement with its results. “The company will continue to spend the 800 million yuan raised since its IPO on its core network, air delivery team and information and cold chain delivery platforms. It will continue to develop and boost its competitive position in its quest to become a major global logistics player.”

With a market value of 261 billion yuan, SF is worth more than the combined value of YTO Express, STO Express and Yunda Express — three other private couriers that went public through respective backdoor listings last year.

SF was established in 2010 by Wong, who was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. He began his business in the early 1990s, toting parcels between different parts of Hong Kong and the Shenzhen border. His one-man courier operation has grown into a transport chain with 37 cargo airliners and presences in the U.S., Australia and Japan.

Chinese parcel deliveries passed the 30 billion mark for 2016, representing 23 packages for each of the nation's 1.3 billion people, according to new data released by the State Post Bureau. The nation’s delivery volume has surged by over 50% annually since 2012, fueled by the world's largest and fastest growing e-commerce sector.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)