[ET Net News Agency, 24 November 2020] Huatai Research lowered its target price for
PICC Property & Casualty (P&C) (02328) to HK$8 from HK$9 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said the auto reforms launched in September have been an overhang for
the sector. According to the company, its auto insurance price fell by around 23% on
average after reforms were launched in September, in line with management's original
expectation.
Management is satisfied with the 97% combined ratio (COR) for new auto insurance
policies and believes the company has better quality control and scale advantages than
smaller players. However, Huatai expects a more volatile auto COR for all players in the
short term due to fierce market competition.
Huatai thinks uncertainties related to the auto insurance reform may dampen investor
sentiment for the stock. It thus cut its EPS forecasts by 7.4%/2.9% for 2020/2021. (KL)