James Guo
Analyst · Credit Suisse. Please go ahead
Thank you, Chairman. Our parcel volume during the quarter outperformed a 24.3% industry average by 11.5 percentage points, increasing 35.8% year-over-year. Such strong growth demonstrates our market leadership and the effectiveness of our strategy. During the fourth quarter, we continued to make solid progress in enhancing service quality. According to data released by the State Post Bureau, ZTO once again received one of the highest scores for customer satisfaction among the major express companies in China during the quarter. We acquired China Oriental Express during the quarter, which will allow us to provide services beyond express delivery such as freight forwarding and other international logistic services as well as increase our exposure outside China and further differentiate ourselves from our competitors. As of December 31, 2017, we have installed a total of 58 automatic sorting equipments at 43 sorting hubs across the country, an increase of 17 lines from the third quarter of 2017. In addition, we added more than 400 high, 15 to 17-meter long trucks to our self-owned fleet during the fourth quarter, which expands our transport capacity and increases transportation efficiency. These measures have not only strengthened our cost advantages and helped us to expand the size and scale of our network capacity but also further reduced our unit operating cost year-over-year. Our net income included a reduced income tax attributable to one of our subsidiaries during the quarter as it became qualified as a High and New Technology Enterprise. This subsidiary recognized RMB285.9 million tax credit for 2017, which improved our bottom line for the year by about RMB0.45 per parcel. This translated into an increase in net profit per parcel from about RMB0.46 in 2016 to about RMB0.51 in 2017. Please note that all amounts are in RMB, unless specifically mentioned. All percentage refers to the changes from prior measuring unless otherwise specified. Our parcel volume during the quarter increased by about 35.8% to approximately 2.02 billion. Our number of self-owned trucks increased to over 3,600 as of December 31, 2017, from about 3,250 as of September 30, 2017. The use of more self-owned high capacity trucks has enabled us to enhance transportation efficiency continuously and reduce unit transportation costs as we further increase our economies of scale. Revenues increased by 35.7% to RMB4.33 billion, primarily due to strong growth in parcel volumes and revenues from major enterprise customers. The acquisition of China Oriental Express on October 1, 2017, also contributed about RMB270 million in revenue during the quarter. Cost of revenues increased to RMB2.98, an increase 46.7%, primarily due to increase in line-haul transportation, sorting hub operations and accessories costs. This also includes RMB260.4 million in freight forwarding cost from the newly acquired China Oriental Express during the quarter. Going into further detail. Line-haul transportation costs increased 22.6% to RMB1.51 billion. The increase was in line with the growth in parcel volume and was primarily due to increased cost associated with our self-owned fleet, which include fuel, tolls, drivers' compensation, depreciation and maintenance expenses and outsourced transportation services. As a percentage of revenues, line-haul transportation costs accounted for 35%, a decrease from 38.6% in the same period last year mainly because of one economies of scale, second increased use of self-owned more cost efficient, higher-capacity trailer trucks in place of third-party trucks; and three, increased truck utilization through optimized route planning and increased backhaul transportation. Sorting hub operating costs grow 34.2% to RMB768.6 billion, primarily due to increases in labor costs on wage hikes and additional headcounts during China's peak online shopping season and also depreciation and amortization costs and rental and related utility costs. As a percentage of revenues, sorting hub operating costs accounted for about 17.7%, a decrease from 18% in the same period last year, mainly due to economies of scale and improved operating efficiency as a result of the increased use of automation in our sorting facilities. Cost of accessories increased 31.6% to RMB127.7 billion, which was inline with growth in our revenue from the sale of accessories, which includes thermal paper for digital waybill printing, portable bar code readers and ZTO-branded packaging materials and uniforms. Other costs increased about 69.6% to RMB309.6 million, primarily due to an increase in dispatching costs associated with serving larger enterprise customers. Gross profit rose 16.5% to RMB1,353,000,000 and gross margin decreased to about 31.3% when compared to the same period last year. The decrease in gross margin was mainly due to the consolidation of China Oriental Express, the increased cost of serving enterprise customers, both of which have relatively lower gross margins than serving smaller customers and an increase in labor cost in our sorting hubs during China's peak online shopping season. Total operating expenses decreased 31.1% to RMB127.5 million. Taking a closer look, we see that SG&A expenses increased by about 13% to RMB222.5 million, primarily due to a one-off – due to a fixed asset disposal loss when we upgraded sorting hub equipments and facilities. If we exclude the impact from the acquisition of China Oriental Express, our operating margin remained stable at about 30.1% compared to [indiscernible] during the same period last year. Income from operations was RMB1.226 billion, an increase of 25.6% from the same quarter last year. In the fourth quarter, that income rose to RMB1.122 million compared with RMB739.8 during the same period last year. Basic and diluted per ADS was RMB1.72, and RMB1.71 respectively, which were both at RMB1.04 during the same period last year. Adjusted net income surged to RMB1,265,000,000, a significant increase from RMB740.1 million during the same period last year. EBITDA was RMB1.381 billion compared with $1.98 million during the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB1.424 billion, an increase from RMB1.98 billion during the same period. Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB1.372 billion compared with $1.183 billion during the same period last year. As of December 31, 2017, the company had approximately RMB10.65 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments, a decrease from about RMB11.3 billion at the end of last year. Going forward we will issue quarterly guidance on parcel volume and adjusted net income rather than revenues. As Chairman Lai mentioned earlier, our strategic focus in 2018 will be on increasing our market share while achieving profitable growth. providing guidance on parcel volume and adjusted net income is directly in line with these strategic objectives. We also use these two objectives – these three metrics, among others, to measure management performance and make major business decisions. Therefore, we believe the guidance on those two metrics provides more meaningful information to investors for them to make investment decisions. Now turning to guidance, for the first quarter of 2018, we expect revenues parcel volume to be in the range between RMB1.504 billion to RMB1.527 million, representing a year-over-year growth rate about 28% to 30% in volume and adjusted net income will be in the range of about RMB617 million to RMB700 million, representing a year-over-year of 33.1% to 39.1%. This estimates represent management's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change. This concludes our prepared remarks. Before we open the call up for Q&A, I would like to remind everyone, so pleased limit themselves to only one questions. Operator, we are now ready to begin the Q&A section. Thank you.