[I-bank focus]CS upgrades BAIC Motor (01958) to "neutral"

   Credit Suisse maintained its target price for BAIC Motor (01958) unchanged at HK$8.3, but upgraded its rating to "neutral" from "underperform".
  The research house said a read-through of Daimler AG's 1Q results show Beijing-Benz JV's 1Q earnings increased 22% YoY to Rmb5.3bn. BAIC guided its slightly better Hyundai JV to achieve breakeven in 1Q, Credit Suisse estimated local brand and others to book Rmb1.1bn loss (down 12% YoY).
  BAIC New Energy (BJEV), 8.15% owned by BAIC Motor, announced it has received government's approval on its A-share backdoor listing via SST Qianfeng (600733) on 27 April. Credit Suisse thinks this might bring big-ticket non-cash fair value gains to BAIC Motor, and accelerate the loss-making "Wevan" operation spin-off, which is estimated to happen in 2Q.
  This also paves the way for BAIC Motor's A-share IPO, and the company is likely to submit IPO filling in 3Q and get listed in early 2019, Credit Suisse said.