SF Holding Q3 revenue increased by 8.2% year-on-year, net profit attributable to the parent company reached 2.57 billion yuan, and total parcel volume reached 4.31 billion | Financial Report Insights

On Thursday, SF Holding released its third-quarter financial report, here are the key points:

• Q3 revenue was 78.4 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.57 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.5% year-on-year;
• Revenue for the first three quarters was 225.26 billion yuan, an increase of 8.89% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 8.31 billion yuan, an increase of 9.07% year-on-year;
• Q3 net profit excluding non-recurring items was 2.23 billion yuan, a decrease of 14.17% year-on-year, with gross profit decreasing by 4.4% year-on-year;
• Q3 parcel volume reached 4.31 billion, a significant increase of 33.4% year-on-year, with growth rate exceeding the industry average;

Core business progress:

• Express logistics revenue grew by 14.4%, but supply chain and international business revenue decreased by 5.3%;
• International freight forwarding business was affected by a significant drop in shipping prices, while international express and cross-border e-commerce grew by 27%;
• The number of active monthly billing customers exceeded 2.4 million, with individual members exceeding 780 million;
• Revenue growth rate for mid-to-high-end time-sensitive services improved quarter-on-quarter;

Total parcel volume in express business increased by 33.4% year-on-year

In Q3, SF's total parcel volume reached 4.31 billion, a staggering increase of 33.4% year-on-year, with growth significantly higher than the overall level of the domestic express industry, and market share steadily increasing. However, profit margins continued to be under pressure, with gross profit decreasing by 4.4% year-on-year and net profit excluding non-recurring items declining by 14.17% year-on-year.

The company attributed the decline in profitability to "proactive market expansion strategies" and "necessary long-term strategic investments."

On the expense side, the management expense ratio remained basically flat, while research and development and financial expense ratios slightly decreased, and the sales expense ratio increased by 0.2 percentage points. Sales expenses for the first three quarters reached 2.77 billion yuan, an increase of 23.92% year-on-year, exceeding the revenue growth rate.

Divergence in express logistics and supply chain business

Express logistics stood out, while the supply chain business lagged behind. In Q3, express logistics revenue grew by 14.4% year-on-year, with business scale steadily expanding; however, supply chain and international business revenue decreased by 5.3% year-on-year. This contrast was mainly due to the impact on international freight forwarding business from a significant drop in shipping prices compared to the same period last year.

Notably, international express and cross-border e-commerce logistics revenue grew by 27% year-on-year, with growth rate further accelerating compared to the first half of the year.

The industry-specific strategy has begun to show results, with logistics revenue in industries such as industrial equipment, high-tech communications, automotive, and consumer goods achieving over 25% year-on-year growth, indicating progress in the company's transition from standardized express services to customized supply chain solutions.

More importantly, the company stated in the Q3 report that it will "shift the incentive focus from scale-driven to value-driven," which is essentially a correction of the previous strategy that purely pursued parcel volume growth. The management committed to "achieving a year-on-year net profit attributable to shareholders that is basically flat by Q4 2025, and maintaining steady year-on-year growth in annual net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025."