Cai Lian News Agency, June 22 (Editor Li Chen) Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there is a dispute over seats. I don't know when the Chinese express delivery industry has been artificially divided into many camps and different "seats" according to different division standards. In the competitive team of express delivery companies, there are national teams, private enterprises, and overseas returnees. There are grassroots private enterprises that have gradually grown through ups and downs, there are also predators who enter the market with huge amounts of capital, and there are e-commerce companies who personally lay out the layout. At present, the law of "leftovers are king" is still in play, and the giant players in it must not only strive for the upstream, but also ensure that they do not fall behind, and look back 30 years based on 2023 in order to better enlighten the future.
In recent years, under the supervision and guidance of departments at all levels, the competitive environment of the express delivery industry has continued to improve, and the head express delivery enterprises have gradually moved from a single price war to a higher-dimensional service capability competition. Industry insiders said that as industry competition gradually moves towards high dimensionality, industry differentiation will further accelerate. Different from the extensive competitive environment in the past, now SF Express and leading express delivery companies such as ZTO and YTO have a leading edge built by comprehensive capabilities, and it is more difficult for tail enterprises to catch up.
On the evening of June 19, the operating data of four A-share express delivery companies, Shentong Express, YTO Express, SF Holding and Yunda Co., Ltd., were released in May, and their business volume and business income all achieved year-on-year growth. Returning to the 2023 development strategy formulated by various leading enterprises, YTO proposed that digitalization should be further implemented and made efforts in air cargo; Yunda proposed to adhere to the development of outlets as the core this year to prevent outlets from continuing to escape; Shentong pointed out that it is necessary to achieve a balanced improvement of unit quantity, quality and profit. Therefore, it is expected that in 2023, stable franchise network management capabilities, product pricing capabilities, differentiated service capabilities, digital intelligence capabilities, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement capabilities will also be the main focus of competition in 23 years.
▌China's express delivery industry will officially transition from the "Warring States Seven Heroes" to the "three-legged" era
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit in the lunar calendar, and the brand name of Jitu seems to imply its fortune - "Rabbit" to seek great business. On June 16, J&T Express Global Co., Ltd. submitted an IPO prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and this dark horse of express delivery from Southeast Asia finally began its listing journey. It is worth mentioning that the previous Internet rumors that SF's stake in Jitu have finally settled. According to the prospectus, Tianhai Investment, a subsidiary of SF, holds 1.54% of the equity of Jitu. Industry insiders said that the alliance between the two express giants, coupled with the previous acquisition of shares of Jingdong Logistics, Ali and Cainiao integrated the Tongda system, and China's express delivery industry will officially transition from the "Warring States Seven Heroes" to the era of "three-legged standing". The traditional express delivery asset-heavy, high-manpower, low-profit business model is gradually losing competitiveness, when the express delivery industry is being serviced, efficient, and information-based reconstruction, the vertical and horizontal integration is becoming more and more frequent, and the elimination and clearing will also accelerate.
Last month, SF Holding sold its low-end franchise business, Fengwang Express, to Jitu Express for 1.183 billion yuan, which now seems to be just a starter. Until now, SF Holding is still in a difficult performance recovery period. The sale of Fengwang Express is also regarded by analysts as a landmark event for SF to "bow its head". In addition, Jitu Express, which acquired Fengwang, was once regarded as one of the largest catfish in China's express delivery market. Who is most stressed about this? According to people familiar with the matter, the business source and business model determine that the business of the Tongda system is being squeezed by the homogeneous competitor Jitu Express. (Note: Tongda is the express delivery company Zhongtong, Yuantong, Shentong, Yunda is known as "four links and one reach" in the industry)
After years of operation, Alibaba has successively invested in Sitong Yida and is also an important shareholder of many of these companies. However, although there was some coordination between the access departments before, they were still fighting separately. The rookie launched to solve the "last mile" problem of the access system is gradually expanding. Cainiao's listing plan is approaching, and when the Tongda express delivery companies are in decline, Alibaba's integration of the Tongda system is on the agenda. At present, Alibaba has transferred 25% of Shentong Express to Cainiao. In addition, Alibaba also holds 20.1% of YTO Express and 8.72% of ZTO Express, both of which are the second largest shareholders, and also holds 1.99% of Yunda shares.
▌The performance of A-share express listed companies: YTO busy transformation, Yunda strong service, SF speed improvement, Shentong grasp profit
In the first quarter of this year, the total revenue of five express listed companies SF Holding, ZTO Express (Hong Kong stocks), YTO Express, Shentong Express and Yunda reached 102.113 billion yuan, and the net profit totaled 4.788 billion yuan. Among the five express delivery companies, only Yunda's market share fell year-on-year, and the remaining four companies are further "grabbing" the market. Based on the calculation and combing of the monthly express service indicator data previously disclosed by each company, the shares of the five companies in the first quarter were Zhongtong, Yuantong, Yunda, Shentong and SF, with 23.4%, 16.58%, 14.23%, 12.48% and 10.74% respectively. Industry insiders said that at present, expanding market share has also become an important direction for the business development of express delivery companies.
The express price war, which has lasted for many years, has almost stalled, but the price of express delivery in the first quarter of this year still fell slightly year-on-year. According to the main operating indicators and disclosure data of various express delivery services sorted out by the surging news reporter, in the first quarter of this year, except for Yunda, the express single ticket revenue of the remaining four companies all fell year-on-year. Among them, the single ticket income of Yuantong, Shentong and Yunda is relatively close, with 2.58 yuan, 2.51 yuan and 2.63 yuan respectively. ZTO is 1.4 yuan and SF is 15.86 yuan. It is understood that the statistical caliber of express delivery enterprise revenue and single ticket income is different. Among the major express delivery companies, SF Express is a direct operation model, and its revenue includes the whole network express income; Franchised express delivery enterprises only calculate headquarters income, in addition, YTO Express, Shentong Express and Yunda are domestic A-share listed companies, and revenue and single ticket income include dispatch fees; ZTO Express revenue and single ticket revenue do not include distribution fees, and incentives for outlets have been deducted.
Specifically, SF Holding's net profit attributable to the parent in the first quarter reached a record high. On the trunk line, SF continued to optimize the transportation resources of the trunk feeder, further expanding its supply chain and international business scale, and achieving rapid revenue growth. In recent years, SF has acquired many overseas logistics assets, and the international sea and air market has undergone tremendous changes in the past year, which inevitably requires SF to formulate a long-term development plan for overseas business. In fact, SF's "elephant" is indeed very large, and every turn is very difficult. Industry insiders said that in recent years, SF has carried out multi-directional breakthrough trial and error, which has also caused a lot of controversy and puzzlement. In addition to accelerating the development of cross-border business, the company will continue to reasonably increase the investment in the local logistics market of Southeast Asian countries in the next few years.
To say who is the "most beautiful boy" in the past two years, it is Yuantong. Analysts said that after "losing" Yunda in the battle for business volume in 2022, YTO can be said to have fully grasped the initiative in the war in 2023. After surpassing Yunda in January, the business volume has continued to lead Yunda so far, so far, in the express delivery "list two battle", the signs of YTO "taking Yunda and replacing it" are not only becoming more and more obvious, but also more and more stable. In addition to the main business of express delivery, the potential of YTO is mainly concentrated in two aspects: first, digital transformation; The second is the card slot of scarce resources.
Among the old guys in the four directions, this year is undoubtedly Yunda's "darkest hour". As we all know, Yunda, who has always shown people in a low-key style, once ranked last in the Tongda department, and has achieved a lot of enviable results in previous years, quietly completing overtaking, especially after the listing, one step a year, the business volume has surpassed Shentong, Yuantong, and even has the trend of catching up with Zhongtong. However, after entering 2023, Yunda's stock price and performance have declined compared with previous achievements. People familiar with the matter said that the most intuitive performance is that the business volume is overtaken by YTO, and Shentong is also close behind. Although many of Yunda's problems are "common diseases" of the franchised express delivery network in the highly involuted competitive environment of the express delivery industry, if Yunda does not face the problems head-on, the harm caused by the future is huge and unpredictable.
As the so-called ups and downs are fate, ups and downs see life. Shentong is a living example. Established 30 years ago, listed for 7 years, Shentong has experienced ups and downs several times, and Shentong will be honored as "big brother" when mentioned in the industry. However, realistically speaking, in the industry competition in the past few years, Shentong's business volume has been overtaken by competitors in the same echelon, and the confidence of the whole network has also been hit. But the gratifying thing is that after three consecutive years of exploration and adjustment, Shentong has made a strong counterattack. By 2023, Shentong's business volume growth rate will continue to lead, and its own positioning and goals are also clear: positioning itself to "build China's leading economic express delivery with quality and efficiency". In the next three years, the single volume will enter the top three, and the timeliness and quality will enter the first echelon of the industry. In the year of "standing at thirty", Shentong ushered in another spring, and the ardent hope of "seeing you on the top of the mountain" is even closer.
This article is from CaiLian News