[ET Net News Agency, 14 August 2018] Credit Suisse lowered its target price for
Zhongsheng Group Holding (00881) to HK$25.5 from HK$28.3, and maintained its "outperform"
rating.
The research house said Zhongsheng's 1H earnings were 6% below consensus estimate. Key
surprise was lower-than-expected premium brands new car gross margin - down 0.6 pp YoY to
4.3%, especially for Audi, BMW, and JLR.
Credit Suisse attributed the margin decline to premium brands weak sales performance in
2Q - flat YoY in May/June 2018. This is because car buyers were waiting for lower prices
after the government declared imported vehicles tariff reduction from 25% to 15% from 1
July 2018.
Credit Suisse lowered its 2018-20 estimates by 9% with lower new car margin assumption.
(KL)