[ET Net News Agency, 21 January 2021] Daiwa Research lifted its target price for China
Merchants Port Holdings (CMP) (00144) to HK$14 from HK$13.6 and maintained its "buy"
rating.
The research house cited CMP management seeing robust volume growth acceleration in 2H
2020, which offset the weakness in 1H. They guided for the strong shipping volume and sea
freight rate growth to continue for the next few months.
For 2021, CMP targets for flat to mid-single-digit total volume growth, given the
low-single-digit volume growth for SIPG, Pearl River Delta, and Shenzhen ports. It also
expects the volume in international ports to grow by mid-to-high-single-digits.
CMP management also disclosed that the company is in talks with shipping lines to raise
tariffs in China, and the result is likely to be announced during its 2020 annual results
analyst call.
Daiwa raised its 2020-22 EPS forecasts by 2-3% after updating for the 2020 operating
data. (KL)