The Truth Behind the Partnership Between J&T and SF Holding Is Revealed

In mid-January this year, a highly anticipated scene unfolded in the logistics circle: as the domestic express industry entered a period of stock consolidation due to slowing growth, SF Holding, an established logistics service provider dominating the mid-to-high-end market, and J&T EXPRESS-W, which focuses on e-commerce packages, jointly announced a cross-shareholding agreement with an investment transaction amount of HK$8.3 billion.

This move, seen by the market as a highly complementary act of "huddling for warmth," further demonstrates its necessity in J&T's latest financial report.

On March 30, J&T released its full-year 2025 results, showing that last year, in China, its largest single market, J&T handled 22.07 billion packages, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. However, its market share declined from 11.3% in 2024 to 11.1%, and the adjusted EBIT contributed by the Chinese market also fell from US$150 million in 2024 to US$93.855 million.

Clearly, in the "anti-involution" zero-sum game of the Chinese market, J&T urgently needs to shift from a "price war" to a "value war."

According to Zheng Shiqiang, Chief Financial Officer of J&T EXPRESS-W, J&T continued to optimize operations and reduce costs in China last year, with the cost per parcel reaching a record low of US$0.28.

The cooperation with SF Holding will undoubtedly help J&T further optimize its costs in the domestic market.

However, the growth space that the domestic market can now offer J&T is quite limited, while more attractive opportunities lie in the vast global market.

To the satisfaction of investors, after nearly three years of operation in new markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Mexico, J&T achieved an adjusted EBIT turnaround for the first time, recording US$3.777 million.

At the same time, in its home base of Southeast Asia, J&T achieved a "triple win" of increased volume, expanded market share, and improved profits, with adjusted EBIT surging 77.5% year-on-year to US$540 million.

Benefiting from growth in overseas markets, J&T's total revenue for the full year reached US$12.16 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.5%, and adjusted net profit reached US$430 million, a massive year-on-year increase of 112.3%, exceeding Bloomberg consensus expectations; total parcel volume surpassed the 30 billion mark for the first time last year, reaching 30.13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%.

However, this global expansion is undoubtedly expensive.

To support its massive cross-border parcel network, J&T has continued to invest in heavy-asset infrastructure globally. As of the end of 2025, J&T's express delivery business covers 13 countries, with approximately 19,300 outlets, operating 246 transit centers, and over 13,300 line-haul vehicles.

It is precisely these capital-intensive capacity investments that have secured close cooperation with global cross-border e-commerce platforms such as SHEIN, Temu, TikTok, and AliExpress, and facilitated a partnership with Mercado Libre, the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America.

J&T management revealed that they are beginning to study potential opportunities in other Latin American countries, Europe, and North America.

But to seize the market opportunities presented by the rapid increase in global e-commerce penetration, J&T must further enhance the density of its global express network.

J&T mentioned in its financial report that the strategic cross-shareholding with SF Holding promotes deeper cooperation between the two parties. By integrating both parties' overseas and cross-border logistics resources and terminal network resources, and enhancing global network coverage and service efficiency, the partnership is beneficial for the company's expansion in overseas regional markets.

As new markets historically cross the profitability inflection point, combined with the deep connection of underlying resources with SF Holding, J&T has not only deepened its moat in terms of per-parcel economic efficiency but also opened up a broad growth space for its transition from a "regional express delivery dark horse" to a "global integrated logistics giant."

In this battle for the global supply chain, Chinese enterprises have fully entered the arena. What J&T now holds is no longer just the sharp blade of a price war, but long-term leverage based on global network and capital synergy.