(Yicai) Aug. 21 -- China-listed couriers, including ZTO Express and J&T Global Express, were able to translate parcel volume growth into big earnings gains in the first half of the year, as price competition begins to ease.

Net profit at ZTO jumped 31 percent to CNY5.2 billion (USD773.6 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, while revenue climbed 23 percent to CNY27.8 billion (USD4.1 billion), the Shanghai-based company said in its semi-annual financial statement released on Aug. 19.

Earnings across China’s express deliveries sector improved as a result of regulatory guidance aimed at curbing low-price competition, marking an industry-wide pivot from the pursuit of scale to a value-driven approach that balances volume with quality, ZTO’s founder Lai Meisong said.

J&T’s revenue came in at USD7.7 billion for the period, up 40 percent from the same period last year, with income from the express delivery business also jumping 40 percent to USD7.5 billion, its earnings report showed yesterday. Adjusted net profit at the firm, originally set up in Indonesia and now headquartered in Shanghai, soared 124 percent to USD350 million.

Revenue at YTO Express rose 8.4 percent to CNY38.9 billion in the first half from a year earlier, according to the Shanghai-based firm’s latest trading report published on Aug. 19. Net profit surged 73 percent to CNY3.2 billion, with net profit from the express segment up 69 percent to CNY3.4 billion.

Easing price competition and the industry’s increasing use of artificial intelligence technologies have made major contributions to improving operational performance, logistics analyst Zhao Xiaomin told Yicai. Earnings growth at many companies was explosive because of low year-earlier bases of comparison, he added.

The sector has been characterized by aggressive price-cutting for several years, as express delivery companies fought for a bigger slice of the world’s largest parcel delivery market.

Overseas expansion was another key element underpinning revenue gains in the period. Markets such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Mexico, and Egypt were the fastest-growing regions for J&T in the first half, with total deliveries of 360 million parcels, up 120 percent from a year ago. This was mainly as a result of collaborations with cross-border e-commerce platforms.

In Southeast Asia, J&T’s deliveries climbed 71 percent to 5.5 billion parcels, thanks to partnerships with local and global e-commerce, short-video, and livestreaming platforms such as TikTok, Shein, Temu, Kwai, and AliExpress.

The industry’s second-half earnings are expected to outdo the first six months, as major e-commerce promotions, overseas inventory building, and the growth in the trade of agricultural produce will continue to support the overall business, Zhao predicted.

The sector is emerging from years of vicious price competition and is entering a stage where profitability and operational quality take precedence over expansion, Zhao noted. Companies need to continue improving their profit distribution mechanism between headquarters, franchisees, and frontline staff to fortify their competitiveness, he added.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione