(Yicai Global) Oct. 17 -- YTO Express, a Chinese express delivery behemoth, recorded an almost threefold net profit boost in the first three quarters of this year due to business expansion and a de-escalating price war.

From January to September, YTO logged about CNY2.8 billion (USD380 million) in net profit, a 190 percent uptick from a year ago, as parcel volumes increased amid better control over pricing, the Shanghai-based firm said in a statement recently.

Revenue tallied about CNY38.8 billion (USD5.4 billion), up 27 percent. The volume of parcels totaled about 12.7 billion units, up by 9 percent.

Since the fourth quarter of last year, undercutting has become less common among Chinese express delivery giants such as STO Express and S.F. Holding after years of intense competition that caused increasingly tight profit margins.

Costs are becoming equally optimized as several firms' daily average business volumes have exceeded 40 million units. Last year, the leading firms of ZTO Express, YTO, Yunda Express and STO Express were able to lower their cost per unit by less than CNY0.005 (less than 1 US cent).

Apart from S.F. Holding, other giants in the sector grow by attracting more franchisees. So it has become key to come up with a well-oiled management system to increase efficiency. YTO has responded to the challenge by providing digital tools for franchisees and customers to increase its profit margins while rectifying issues of poor control. Besides YTO, its rivals have been investing more in digitization and informationization in recent years.

YTO's stock price [SHA: 600233] moved up 1.1 percent to close at CNY22.18 (USD3.10).

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi