[ET Net News Agency, 4 May 2020] Huatai Research lowered its target price for China
Coal Energy (01898) to HK$4.15 from HK$4.3 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said, despite a 4.3% rise in sales volume, China Coal's gross profit
of self-produced coal fell RMB478mn to RMB6.3bn, due to a 6.4% decline in ASP. For the
coal chemical segment, while the sales volume of olefin remained flat, per-tonne profit
narrowed by more than RMB1,000/t on steeper ASP decline over unit cost.
Another drag on 1Q profit was the huge drop in investment income to RMB46.5mn, caused by
the falling prices of coal and coal chemical products, and operation disruption of key
associates and JVs. Huatai cut its 2020 net profit forecast to RMB5.2bn. (KL)