[ET Net News Agency, 24 March 2020] Daiwa Research lowered its target price for China
Unicom (00762) to HK$9.26 from HK$12.89 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house cut its 2020-21 EPS forecasts for China Unicom by 31-33% to reflect
the COVID-19 impact and company-specific operational factors. Despite the earnings cut,
Daiwa still regards China Unicom as a deep-value play as it offers attractive adjusted
cash flow yields (2020-22 of 10-14%), and it has a conservative balance sheet (net cash
excluding lease liabilities).
In addition, Daiwa noted that capex risks appear to have receded as China Unicom is
enjoying the benefits of its network-sharing strategy (CNY10bn savings in 2019). Its
guidance for 2020 should also assuage market concerns over aggressive 5G related spending.
(KL)