[ET Net News Agency, 28 October 2019] Huatai Research lifted its target price for
Jiangsu Expressway (JSE)(00177) to HK$12.7 from HK$12.3 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said JSE's 3Q net profit of RMB1,277mn (+9.7%) beat Huatai's previous
estimate of RMB1,202mn, mainly due to higher-than-expected investment income. Huatai
raised its 2019/20/21 net profit forecasts by 2.8%/0.6%/1.1%.
It said toll rates were hit by the steeper ETC (Electronic toll collection) discount for
JSE, which expanded from 2% to 5% in July; Huatai estimated a negative impact on JSE's
fees of -2.5/-3.5/-1.0% in 2H 2019/1H 2020/2H 2020. Long term, Huatai expects higher
traffic and lower labor costs from the enhanced passing and tolling efficiency. (KL)