(Yicai Global) Oct. 14 -- Shares of SF Holdings surged after the Chinese express delivery giant projected net profit to have almost doubled in the third quarter.

SF [SHE: 002352] closed 8.2 percent higher at CNY49.45 (USD6.88) in Shenzhen today, giving it a market capitalization of CNY242.1 billion (USD33.7 billion).

Net profit likely rose 84 percent to 99 percent to between CNY1.9 billion and CNY2.1 billion (USD270 million and USD293 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, the Shenzhen-based company said yesterday.

SF will report its best third-quarter earnings, with the annual growth rate also reaching a new high, according to corporate information platform Wind.

For the first nine months of the year, SF expected net profit to be between CNY4.4 billion to CNY4.6 billion, an increase of 146 percent to 154 percent from a year ago.

Since it listed in 2017, first-half revenues have been growing steadily. But last year’s performance in the first six months missed expectations to fall below the level of 2020. This year, SF recorded a significant rebound in first-half net profit but was still far from pre-pandemic levels.

Net profit was CNY2.5 billion in the six months ended June 30, up 231 percent from a year earlier. The figures in the first half of 2020 and 2019 were CNY3.8 billion and CNY3.1 billion, respectively.

Editor: Futura Costaglione