ANE (09956) delivers another performance report: Gross profit in the third quarter of 2024 increased by 66.7% year-on-year, while shipment volume increased by 18.5% compared to the same period last year.

On the evening of November 14, China's leading express delivery company ANE (09956) released its performance report for the third quarter of 2024. The data shows that in the third quarter of this year, the company continued the trend of increasing cargo volume from the first half of the year, achieving a total freight volume of 3.73 million tons, an 18.5% year-on-year increase. The increase in cargo volume also drove strong growth in revenue and profitability, with revenue reaching 3.044 billion yuan, a 21.2% year-on-year increase; adjusted pre-tax profit reaching 284 million yuan, a 39.2% year-on-year increase; gross profit reaching 476 million yuan, a 66.7% year-on-year increase; and gross margin reaching 15.6%, an increase of 4.2 percentage points year-on-year. From the financial report, as ANE celebrates the two-year anniversary of its strategic transformation, guided by the vision of "the most cost-effective, the best quality, the most stable timeliness, the fastest service response, and the most dense network coverage," focusing on the strategy of "effective scale growth with equal emphasis on profit and quality," under the guidance of long-termism, the company has firmly implemented various measures, not only achieving performance beyond market expectations, but also forging the ability to achieve sustained high-quality growth. In terms of cost control, ANE has improved efficiency in distribution centers and transportation through lean management and the introduction of new technologies. On the one hand, by continuously optimizing vehicle routing planning and production deployment, fleet management is being refined. On the other hand, some distribution centers have launched automated sorting conveyor line equipment, continuously improving sorting efficiency and capacity limits, effectively reducing costs. Through a series of measures, ANE's unit transportation costs in the third quarter decreased by 6.3% year-on-year, and unit distribution costs decreased by 16.7% year-on-year. In terms of product development, ANE focuses on its flagship 3300 product, targeting a "9996" timeliness standard (90% for the full network's intermodal transfer rate, 90% for same-day sign-off rate, and 96% for real-time sign-off rate) as its action goal, comprehensively promoting the steady improvement of service quality and timeliness. In the third quarter, the average loss rate per 100,000 items decreased by 75.3% year-on-year, the average complaint rate per 100,000 tickets decreased by 90.8% year-on-year, and the average shipment duration decreased by 7.3% year-on-year. By September 2024, the average shipment duration had been optimized to less than 64 hours, further enhancing service quality. In addition, to strengthen product development, ANE's headquarters has proposed various market subsidy measures, such as adhering to the policy of "no price increases during peak season" to maintain price stability throughout the year, providing subsidies for special areas in the range of 3-300 kilograms, enhancing end-to-end service capabilities, continuously providing benefits to the market and customers. In terms of network ecology development, ANE continues to create a "rich ecology" network, improving management efficiency through a flat organizational structure, strengthening the "iron triangle" organization's empowerment capabilities, and empowering alliance partners with a comprehensive range of technologies, management concepts, and policy systems, continuously enhancing network strength. As of the end of September, the company had a total of approximately 32,000 freight cooperation partners and agents, ranking first in the domestic joined express delivery network scale. The financial report also shows that ANE's cargo structure has been further optimized, with the high growth rate of small kilogram segment products effectively driving the company's profitability. In the first three quarters of this year, the upgraded benefits of the "3300" product were outstanding, with the mini small ticket (0-70 kg) and small ticket LTL (70-300 kg) volume growth rates reaching 29.9% and 20.7%, significantly higher than the overall freight volume growth rate. The company's long-term excellent performance has also been recognized by third parties. HAITONG INT'L recently pointed out in a research report that ANE's network competitiveness continues to strengthen, with significant results in the rich ecology, and network densification not only improves coverage but also promotes the improvement of service quality in sync, forming a virtuous cycle. At the same time, the secondary market has also continued to give positive feedback. Since the beginning of this year, ANE's stock price has maintained an overall upward trend, closing at 8.05 Hong Kong dollars per share on November 14th, up 44.01% from the beginning of the year at 5.26 Hong Kong dollars per share. In the next stage, ANE will continue to promote transformation, deepen channels, enhance product competitiveness, and solidify the ability to achieve high-quality growth through "dual-wheel drive."