J&T Express Organizational Restructuring: New Establishment of China Region

J&T Express separates its overseas and Chinese market operations, and appoints a new CEO for the China region.

On January 10th, regarding the recent online rumors about organizational structure and personnel changes at J&T Express, it has been confirmed by J&T Express that this separation of the group and its Chinese operations is aimed at refining operations. The Chinese region will have its first CEO, Liu Wei, a member of the founding team at J&T Express, who will be responsible for domestic express delivery business and report to Fan Suzhou.

According to reports, there was no CEO for the Chinese region before, and it was managed by Fan Suzhou, the Executive President of J&T Express Group. An insider from J&T Express revealed that previously there was no distinction between the group and the Chinese region; they were all referred to as headquarters. Fan Suzhou served as the Executive President, while Hou Junyi served as Vice President. After the split at the end of last year, Fan Suzhou and Hou Junyi focused on managing overseas operations and planned to enter new international markets. “Overall, domestic business volume is larger, but overseas markets are more profitable.”

The above-mentioned person further pointed out that the China region of J&T Express is managed by Liu Wei, the former director of the Marketing Department at the headquarters. At the end of last year, they made adjustments to the organizational structure in China, splitting and merging some departments. In addition, they spun off some subsidiaries that had little relevance to their core business. “It may be for a more focused approach on domestic operations. The entire China region was already profitable as of November last year, with only 3 out of 24 agent regions experiencing losses.”

On October 27th last year, J&T Express (1519.HK) was listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. As of January 10th, when this article was written, J&T Express’ stock price was reported at HKD 15.66 per share, up by 0.13%, with a market value of HKD 138 billion (approximatly ＄18 billion). This has surpassed the combined market value of YTO Express Group Co (600233.SH), STO Express Co., Ltd (002468.SZ), and YUNDA Holding (002120.SZ).

According to the prospectus disclosed last year, Li Jie is the founder, executive director, chairman of the board, and CEO of J&T Express. He joined in June 2015 and is responsible for overall strategic planning and business aspects. Fan Suzhou serves as the executive president. He joined in June 2015 and is responsible for group-wide strategic planning, organizational development, and supervising business operations.

J&T Express was founded by Li Jie in Indonesia in August 2015. It has expanded to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore. In 2020, it further expanded to China and continues to expand into Latin America and the Middle East. The core express delivery service of J&T Express has already covered 13 countries, including the fastest-growing emerging markets worldwide. As a global logistics service provider, J&T Express is not only engaged in express delivery services but also provides cross-border logistics services that include freight forwarding, small parcel solutions, and warehousing.

After entering the domestic market in March 2020, J&T Express has been continuously acquiring in the capital market. In 2022, its market share in China reached 10.9%, ranking sixth. In the first half of 2023, the parcel volume was 6.446 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 15.05%.

From 2020 to 2022, the revenue of J&T Express has been consistently increasing. The total revenue in 2022 reached $7.267 billion, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the previous year. In the first half of 2023, the company achieved a revenue of $4.03 billion, representing a growth rate of 18.45%. Among them, the proportion of revenue from China has been increasing year by year and has exceeded half by the first half of 2023, reaching $2.203 billion with a YoY growth rate of 12.39%.

From 2020 to 2022, J&T Express had a net loss of -664 million US dollars, -6.192 billion US dollars, and a net profit of 1.573 billion US dollars respectively. In its Kapbook, J&T Express stated that the net losses in 2020 and 2021 were mainly due to costs incurred from entering the Chinese market, while efforts to expand market share and enter new markets continued in 2022. The net profit generated in 2022 was primarily attributed to fair value gains on financial liabilities recognized in income statement.

Furthermore, according to the Kapbook, it is pointed out that the previous losses of J&T Express in China were mainly due to continuous investments in technological infrastructure, scale, and expansion. Since entering the Chinese market in March 2020, with sustained investment, J&T Express has achieved significant growth in parcel volume and market share during the reporting period.

Whether long-term profitability can be achieved is also a key concern of the market. In the first half of last year, J&T Express incurred a net loss of 667 million US dollars, compared to a profit of 1.372 billion US dollars in the same period two years ago.

According to the Kapbook, the IPO funds will be used to expand its logistics network, upgrade infrastructure, and strengthen J&T Express’ sorting and warehousing capabilities and capacity in Southeast Asia and other existing markets. It will also be used to explore new markets and expand service coverage, invest in research and technological innovation, as well as for general corporate purposes and operational funding needs.

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