(Yicai) Nov. 4 -- China’s largest express delivery companies reported a significant surge in profit and revenue in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier even though the price per parcel has dropped to new lows, as they benefit from the increased popularity of online shopping.

SF Holding’s net profit soared 34.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to CNY2.8 billion (USD400 million), while revenue jumped 12 percent to CNY72.4 billion (USD10.2 billion), according to its latest financial report.

YTO Express posted a 18 percent jump in net profit to CNY943 million (USD130 million) while revenue surged 22.1 percent to CNY16.8 billion (USD2.3 billion), it said in its third-quarter earnings report.

STO Express’s net profit soared almost 79-fold to CNY215 million (USD30.3 million) and revenue advanced 16.3 percent to CNY11.9 billion (USD1.6 billion). And Yunda Holding reported a 24.2 percent jump in net profit to CNY367 million (USD51.7 million) while revenue climbed 8.8 percent to CNY12.2 billion (USD1.7 billion).

E-commerce is boosting earnings in the courier sector. Online purchases of physical goods have been growing steadily since the beginning of the year, driving sustained growth in the delivery sector, Shanghai-based STO Express said earlier in its third-quarter earnings forecast.

Profit growth at all four express delivery companies expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter than in the first nine months. STO Express reported the fastest pace, with profit expanding at a clip 7,565 percentage points faster than in the first three quarters while Shenzhen-based SF posted the slowest increase at just 2.1 percentage points.

Despite this boom in profit, the revenue per parcel dropped to new lows. STO Express’ income per parcel slumped 4.2 percent in September from the same period last year to CNY2.02 (USD0.28), the lowest ever for the month of September.

The delivery sector is now entering peak season as the Double 11 online shopping bonanza in November gears up. But even though they are delivering more packages, courier firms are not earning more from each order, company insiders told Yicai. They are mainly maintaining their income levels through greater turnover.

The nation’s postal and courier sector’s parcel collection soared 48.7 percent from Oct. 21 to 23 from a year earlier to 1.92 billion parcels, and deliveries surged 29.5 percent to 1.65 billion packages, according to the State Post Bureau.

Editor: Kim Taylor