[ET Net News Agency, 21 May 2018] Daiwa Research said it met with WH Group (00288)
along with investors, on 18 May at Daiwa's A-share conference in Hong Kong for a business
update.
It said management continues to see market consolidation in the hog production business
due to increasing hog feed cost and low hog prices in China. On top of operational
difficulties, tightening environmental policies is another driver eliminating smaller
players from the market. Management said it does not have interest in buying existing hog
farms due to high restructuring cost.
Shuanghui, WH Group's China business, is expecting to benefit from continued low hog
prices in 2Q as supply remains abundant in China. While raw material cost is falling,
management has no plans to lower its packaged meat retail ASP, but will launch more
promotional activities to drive sales volume growth.
Daiwa reiterated its "buy" rating on WH Group and a target price of HK$10.9. (KL)