[ET Net News Agency, 23 March 2020] BofA Global Research lowered its target price for
China Evergrande Group (03333) to HK$10 from HK$22.8 and downgraded its rating to
"underperform" from "buy" following its profit warning.
The research house noted that Evergrande has continued with aggressive pricing so far
this year. While a stronger focus on contracted sales growth and cash collection should be
a longer-term positive to allow Evergrande to deleverage faster, its margin outlook may
remain weak near term, thus disappointing equity investors.
BofA said it may also be a signal that Evergrande is preparing for the possibility that
its A-share restructuring is not ultimately approved and the potential need to raise funds
to satisfy the RMB130bn put exercisable by strategic investors in January 2021. (KL)