[ET Net News Agency, 17 January 2020] Huatai Research lowered its target price for
China Eastern Airlines (CEA)(00670) to HK$5.45 from HK$5.5 and maintained its "buy"
rating.
The research house said CEA's available seat kilometer (ASK) was up 6.7% and revenue
passenger kilometer (RPK) rose 7.1% in December, pushing total passenger load factor
(PLF) up by 0.3pp to 80.1%, mainly due to rebounding domestic routes, whose PLF increased
1.2pp.
Factoring in the current supply-demand dynamics and the delay between economic stimulus
and recovery in business traveler demand, Huatai cut its 2019/20/21 net profit forecasts
by 27.8/29.2/20.3% to RMB4,995/7,244/11,396mn. (KL)