[ET Net News Agency, 29 November 2019] Daiwa Research raised its target price for China
Merchants Bank (CMB)(03968) to HK$47.5 from HK$45 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house highlighted CMB's strong earnings release capability and decent asset
quality conditions over 2020, backed by its unmatched retail franchise, which will boost
its long-term profitability.
Daiwa expects CMB's NIM (net interest margin) to slightly narrow in 2020, but it
believes its stronger-than-peer earnings growth momentum will sustain, supported by (1)
continuing recovery in noninterest income growth, (2) reasonable cost-to-income ratio with
dedicated FinTech investments, and (3) lower credit cost, given large amount of excess
provisions. (KL)