[ET Net News Agency, 20 February 2020] Daiwa Research lowered its target price for
Huaneng Power International (00902) to HK$3.5 from HK$4 and downgraded its rating to
"hold" from "outperform".
The research house said the China coal power sector benefitted from a VAT cut and lower
unit fuel cost in 2019. Unlike its peer Huadian Power (01071) that released a profit alert
for 2019, Huaneng has not released any positive profit alert so far.
Daiwa estimated Huaneng's core earnings had risen significantly in 2019, but it thinks
Huaneng's actual reported earnings might have been impacted by an impairment loss, like
what happened in 2018.
With the coronavirus outbreak, China may see economic pressure in 2020, negatively
impacting power demand, coal power utilisation, and tariffs. (KL)