[ET Net News Agency, 27 April 2020] Jefferies Research said Chongqing Rural Commercial
Bank's (CQRC)(03618) 1Q earnings decline (6.9%) was mainly due to a one-off impact in 1Q
2019.
Overall, the research house thinks the results were encouraging given stable NIM, strong
fee income, benign asset quality, and improved provision and capital. But Jefferies sees
challenges going forward as Chongqing's manufacturing industry is likely to be affected by
the global pandemic, and NIM may decline further QoQ in 2Q due to seasonality.
It finds CQRC's valuation attractive (0.38x 2020 P/B) but also sees high uncertainty.
Jefferies retained its "hold" call and HK$3.42 target price on CQRC. (KL)