(Yicai) Sept. 20 -- Shares in STO Express, YTO Express Group, Yunda Holding and S.F. Holding advanced today after the four Chinese courier firms reported higher business volume and greater earnings in August.

STO Express’ share price [SHE:002468] finished the day up 1.4 percent at CNY10.38 (USD1.47), YTO Express’ stock [SHA:600233] ended up 0.9 percent at CNY15.60, Yunda’s share price [SHE:002120] climbed 2.2 percent to close at CNY7.65 (USD1.08) while S.F. Holding’s stock [SHE:002352] closed up 1.7 percent at a two-month high of CNY37.56.

The uptick in stock prices is connected to a strong performance last month, as evidenced in the latest earnings reports released by the four companies. STO Express logged a 21.5 percent jump in revenue from its express delivery services in August from a year ago, while business volume surged 27.3 percent.

At YTO Express, revenue soared 20.7 percent while business volume expanded 29.9 percent. Yunda Holding posted a 11.4 percent increase in revenue and a 21.6 percent jump in business volume. While S.F. Holding logged a 8.6 percent gain in revenue and a 14.6 percent increase in business volume.

Business volume is growing quicker than revenue which means that the price per order is tumbling.

Yunda's price per order plunged 8 percent in August to below CNY2 (USD0.28), the lowest in a year. While that at S.F. Holding sank 5 percent, that at YTO Express dived 7 percent and that at STO Express slumped 5 percent.

The falling price of single orders is mostly due to changes in cargo structure, adjustments to the firm's payment terms and market regulations, Shanghai-based Yunda said.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor