[ET Net News Agency, 1 February 2021] Credit Suisse lifted its target price for
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (01398) to HK$6.6 from HK$5.8 and maintained
its "outperform" rating.
The research house revised up ICBC's 2020 profit growth from -1.4% to 1.1% to reflect
macroeconomy strength in 4Q. This compares with consensus deeply negative at -7.7%.
Compared with our earlier assumptions for ICBC, Credit Suisse nows consider slightly
higher top-line and PPoP growth. It believes the divergence between banks will widen in
the 2020 results and in 2021. ICBC's NIM will be supported with continuous regulation over
deposit competition. (KL)