According to the star daily on November 19 (Reporter Xu Cihao), the express logistics industry has welcomed its first "A+H" listed company.

s.f. holding (06936.HK) today (19th) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it will be offering 0.17 billion shares of H stock globally from November 19, 2024, to November 22, 2024.

Of these, approximately 9.5% will be offered in Hong Kong, and about 90.5% will be offered internationally, along with an additional 15% over-allotment option. The offering price will be between 32.3-36.3 HKD per share, and the H shares are expected to be listed on November 27, 2024. s.f. holding's chairman and general manager, Wang Wei, stated that beyond obtaining more financial support, it is more important to leverage the international platform of the Hong Kong stock market to accelerate s.f.'s globalization.

s.f. holding also mentioned in its prospectus that being listed in hong kong will help the company further advance its international strategy, create an international capital operation platform, and enhance its international brand image.

Before listing in hong kong, it distributed 6.7 billion yuan.

According to the third quarter report recently disclosed by s.f. holding, the net income attributed to shareholders of the listed company for the first three quarters of 2024 was 7.617 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.59%; revenue was 206.861 billion yuan, an increase of 9.44% year-on-year. The revenue for the third quarter was 72.451 billion yuan, an increase of 12.07% year-on-year; the net income attributable to the parent company was 2.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.59%.

Regarding the reason why the net income growth rate is significantly higher than the revenue growth rate, s.f. holding explained that it is due to cost efficiency optimization brought about by resource integration and operational transformation.

In fact, in recent years, faced with the increasingly competitive domestic express logistics market, the revenue growth rate of s.f. holding has gradually slowed down. In 2023, the revenue growth rate decreased from 29.11% in 2022 to -3.39%, but through internal cost control and efficiency improvement, it maintained a relatively better profit growth rate.

It is worth noting that before being listed in hong kong, s.f. holding made a large-scale dividend distribution.

In October, s.f. holding announced a special dividend plan to return to shareholders and a mid-term dividend plan for 2024, with a total cash distribution of 6.72 billion yuan planned. Among them, according to the special dividend plan, s.f. holding plans to implement a one-time special cash dividend for all shareholders (i.e., A-share shareholders) before the issuance and listing of H shares, with a total amount of approximately 4.8 billion yuan; additionally, s.f. holding also proposed a mid-term dividend plan for 2024, distributing 4 yuan (tax inclusive) in cash dividends for every 10 shares, with an expected total mid-term dividend amount of approximately 1.92 billion yuan.

In addition, according to the updated prospectus, s.f. holding has signed cornerstone investment agreements with Oaktree, Huihan, WT Asset Management, china pacific insurance, Green Better, Infini, Wind sabre, Morgan Stanley International, Ghisallo, and Rui Jun Asset Management, with cornerstone investors agreeing to subscribe or facilitate designated entities to subscribe for a total amount of approximately 0.205 billion USD (or about 1.592 billion HKD) under certain conditions at the issue price.

Among them, Green Better is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiaomi, and in the cornerstone round, Green Better invested 20 million USD, accounting for 0.09% of the shares.

The revenue of the international sector in the third quarter increased by 27.2% year-on-year.

s.f. holding began its overseas market expansion in 2010, operating cross-border business. In 2019, s.f. successfully integrated the DHL China business, and in 2021, it acquired a 51.5% stake in southeast Asian logistics giant kerry log net for a massive sum of 17.555 billion yuan, with Wang Wei, the leader of s.f., personally taking charge as the chairman of the board of directors of kerry log net, and in the fourth quarter of the same year, kerry log net was incorporated into the financial statement system of s.f. holding.

This move is seen as a strong signal for s.f. to accelerate its international layout and elevate international logistics business to a core strategic position.

S.F. holding's internationalization follows a development path from Southeast Asia to the European and American markets. In the summer and autumn flight season of 2024, S.F. aviation's international cargo flights show that the Southeast Asia line accounts for 37%, while the Europe and America line accounts for 10%.

In April of this year, while discussing with investors, S.F. mentioned that the overseas market is vast and requires an "individual approach for each country," adapting to local conditions. From the third quarter report this year, the a-share international board business has become a highlight of S.F. holding's performance growth, with supply chain and international sector revenue achieving a year-on-year growth of 27.2% in the first three quarters.

Zhao Xiaomin, an express logistics expert and CEO of Guanzhuo Capital, stated in an interview with the Star Daily that through A+H, further improvement of S.F.'s influence and recognition both domestically and internationally is proposed. However, the main challenge currently facing its internationalization lies in the development within the aviation sector.

In his view, to further enhance logistics efficiency, the expansion of S.F. aviation's fleet size has become an urgent issue to resolve. Secondly, whether S.F. aviation can fully leverage the collaborative operational capabilities with the Ezhou hub to increase international competitiveness is crucial. Additionally, the collaboration between S.F. and Kerry log net is also essential, as it is a key factor in whether S.F. can establish brand influence in the international market.