[ET Net News Agency, 29 March 2018] Goldman Sachs lifted its target price for CITIC
Ltd. (00267) to HK$12.7 from HK$12.5, and maintained its "neutral" rating.
The research house said CITIC's core FY2017 net profit (excluding impairment loss of
HK$7.2bn for Sino Iron and one-off gains of HK$5.9bn) grew 13% yoy to HK$45.2bn, broadly
in line with Goldman's expectation.
Post the strong cyclical recovery this year, Goldman sees earnings growth likely to
moderate to high single digit in FY2018-19 while fundamentals continue to be well
supported by China's robust industrial production.
Trading at 0.6x FY2018 P/B, the stock may see limited downside. Goldman said it would
turn more positive towards CITIC's growth trajectory if it saw a clearer strategy of
capital deployment in terms of geographical or sector focus, particularly given a majority
of its assets are concentrated in "old economy". (KL)