[ET Net News Agency, 15 August 2019] Goldman Sachs lowered its target price for Hong
Kong Exchanges (HKEX)(00388) by 10% to HK$215 and maintained its "sell" rating.
The research house said HKEX 2Q EPS was 9% ahead of Goldman's estimate. That said, the
beat was driven by more volatile (and relatively difficult to predict) investment income
and depository revenue streams. Excluding investment income, revenues were 4% lower and
adjusted costs 10% higher for the 1H, on account of weaker equity market activity levels.
Goldman expects tougher times ahead with weaker/subdued equity activity levels now
starting to flow through the quarterly EPS. It expects 3Q EPS to be 18%/13% lower QoQ/YoY
on account of continued weakness in equity market turnover. (KL)