BEST Inc. Announces Unaudited Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) (“BEST” or the “Company”), a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Johnny Chou, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BEST, commented, “In the third quarter, we remained steadfast in driving the Company’s realignment around our core competencies and unlocking value for our shareholders. As we proceed with our transaction with J&T Express Co., Ltd. (J&T Express China), we are excited about our roadmap ahead to deliver integrated supply chain, freight and global logistics services for our customers.”

“Against a challenging backdrop with COVID-19 flare ups, we continued to enhance Best Freight’s business capabilities of serving e-commerce customers and leveraging synergies with our Supply Chain Management. Supply Chain Management further strengthened its operations by prioritizing higher margin customers, expanding the OFCs network and leveraging our technologies to deliver quality services. On the Global front, our cross-border and local business in the Southeast Asia region continued to press forward, achieving a 78.7% year-over-year increase in parcel volume for the quarter despite the ongoing pandemic.”

“Looking forward, we will continue to synergize among our business units in a strategic, value-creating way and further enhance our integrated logistic service offerings to capture the enormous growth opportunities from e-commerce and the booming demand for integrated supply chain services.”

Gloria Fan, BEST’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “Revenue for the quarter was RMB6.8 billion, a decrease of 14.6% year over year, as market dynamics weighed on the volume and average selling price for Express and Freight. Our balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB3.4 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2021. The strategic transaction with J&T Express China will significantly improve our liquidity and provide us with financial flexibility to reduce leverage and increase investments, laying a solid foundation for us to return to profitability and a growth trajectory.”

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS[1]

For the Quarter Ended September 30, 2021:

  • Revenue was RMB6,812.4 million (US$1,057.3 million), a decrease of 14.6% year-over-year (“YoY”). The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in average selling price (“ASP”) in Express and Freight business segments.
  • Gross Loss was RMB505.1 million (US$78.4 million), compared to gross loss of RMB58.5 million in the same period of 2020. Gross Loss Margin was 7.4%, decreased by 6.7 percentage points (“ppts”) YoY.
  • Net Loss was RMB654.9 million (US$101.6 million), compared to a net loss of RMB565.9 million in the same period of 2020. Non-GAAP Net Loss[2] [3] was RMB684.2 million (US$106.2 million), compared to non-GAAP net loss of RMB541.9 million in the same period of 2020.
  • Diluted EPS[4] was negative RMB1.65 (US$0.26), compared to negative RMB1.45 in the same period of 2020. Non-GAAP Diluted EPS[3] [4] was negative RMB1.73 (US$0.27), compared to negative RMB1.39 in the same period of 2020.
  • EBITDA[5] was negative RMB451.8 million (US$70.1 million), compared to negative RMB392.6 million in the same period of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA[3][5] was negative RMB481.1 million (US$74.7 million), compared to negative RMB369.5 million in the same period of 2020.

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS[6]

BEST Express – During the quarter, parcel volume decreased by 10.9% YoY to 2.1 billion. Gross margin contracted by 7.6 ppts due to a decline in ASP per parcel of 12.0% YoY, partially offset by a decrease in average cost per parcel of 5.5% YoY despite higher oil prices and rising labor costs. 

On October 29, 2021, the Company announced to sell its express delivery business in China (the “Business”) to J&T Express China, at approximately RMB6.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) enterprise value. The sale does not include any of BEST’s other businesses, namely, Supply Chain Management, Freight, UCargo and Global. The consideration to be paid for the Business is subject to certain adjustments and conditions under the terms of a definitive agreement entered into by the parties. This sale is subject to certain closing conditions and applicable regulatory approvals, and is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

BEST Freight – During the quarter, the Company continued its effort to grow its e-commerce related transactions. The e-commerce business accounted for 20.4% of total volume compared with 15.9% in the third quarter of 2020.  Freight volume decreased by 1.5% YoY and its gross margin was negative 5.4% in the quarter; 6.7 ppts lower YoY primarily due to a 7.5% YoY decline in ASP, offset by a 1.3% YoY decrease in average cost per tonne.

BEST Supply Chain Management – Supply Chain Management remained focused on projects with higher margins and clients with strong credit profiles, while continuing to expand franchised cloud OFC network. The total number of orders fulfilled by Cloud OFCs increased by 1.4% YoY to 103.6 million in the third quarter of 2021, of which the total number of orders fulfilled by franchised Cloud OFCs increased by 27.1% YoY to 68.0 million. The number of franchised OFCs increased by 1.7% YoY to 351.

BEST Global – Global maintained its robust growth in Southeast Asia with improved margin. Despite the continued impact from COVID-19, parcel volume in Southeast Asia increased by 78.7% to 37.1 million in the third quarter of 2021, with growth rate of 123.0%, 933.2% and 264.5% YoY in Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia respectively. Global’s gross margin rose by 4.1 ppts YoY, primarily driven by our growing economies of scale.

Others – For UCargo, as of September 30, 2021, the number of registered drivers on the UCargo mobile app increased by 40.2% YoY to 404,336.

[1] All numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest integer, tenth, or hundredth, and year-over-year comparisons are based on figures before rounding. 
[2] Non-GAAP net income/loss represents net income/loss excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, and fair value change of equity investments (if any).
[3] See the sections entitled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures” for more information about the non-GAAP measures referred to within this results announcement.
[4] Diluted earnings per share, or Diluted EPS, is calculated by dividing net income/loss attributable to ordinary shareholders as adjusted for the effect of dilutive ordinary equivalent shares, if any, by the weighted average number of ordinary and dilutive ordinary equivalent shares outstanding during the period.
[5] EBITDA represents net loss excluding depreciation, amortization, interest expense and income tax expense and minus interest income. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA excluding share-based compensation expenses and fair value change of equity investments (if any).
[6] All numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest integer, tenth, or hundredth, and year-over-year comparisons are based on figures before rounding.   

Key Operational Metrics

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *