[ET Net News Agency, 28 October 2019] HSBC Global Research lifted its target price for
China Resources Cement (CRC)(01313) to HK$9.4 from HK$9.2 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said CRC's 3Q net profit of HK$2bn beat HSBC's forecast by 10%.
Although GP/t of HK$144/t was slightly below HSBC's estimate, clinker and cement sales
volume of 22mt, +7.3% YoY, beat HSBC's expectation significantly.
Management indicated that sales volume was flat in July but demand picked up quickly in
the second half of August, leading to +5% volume growth in August and +17% volume growth
in September.
HSBC believes this strong demand will last till early January next year despite that
Chinese New Year in 2020 will be at the end of January, a week earlier than 2019. It
raised its earnings estimates by 5%/4%/4% for 2019/20/21 after incorporating 3Q actual
results and marking to market the latest cement prices. (KL)