[ET Net News Agency, 2 September 2019] Goldman Sachs raised its target price for
Mengniu Dairy (02319) to HK$31.4 from HK$31.1 and maintained its "neutral" rating.
The research house said it came away from company briefing with the view that management
is still very confident on Mengniu's liquid milk growth, especially with the launch of
premium Milk Deluxe series, room temp yogurt's fast growth, and expansion into low tier
cities.
Goldman believes the company will continue its solid sales growth in 2H with further mix
upgrades. However, as Mengniu's sales growth surpassed Yili in 1H, Goldman also expects
the competition between two players will persist or even intensify amid a gradually
slowing industry.
For 2H, Goldman looks for a similar 40bps margin expansion mainly from lower selling
expenses. It fine-tuned Mengniu's 2019-21 EPS forecasts by -1% to 1%. (KL)