SHENZHEN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Leading Chinese express delivery firm STO Express announced Wednesday that its 2018 net profits attributable to its shareholders rose 37.5 percent year on year to 2.05 billion yuan (306 million U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, revenues jumped 34.4 percent year on year to 17 billion yuan, STO Express said in its preliminary financial results for 2018 filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In 2018, China's express delivery sector handled 50.7 billion parcels, an annual increase of 26.6 percent, the firm cited data from the State Post Bureau as saying. The sector generated 603.8 billion yuan of revenues, up 21.8 percent year on year.

Shares of STO Express closed the morning trade 4.44 percent lower at 21.50 yuan Wednesday in Shenzhen, but the share price has gained 30.7 percent so far this year amid a broad market rally.