[ET Net News Agency, 29 November 2019] Daiwa Research lowered its target price for Bank
of Communications (BankComm)(03328) to HK$5.5 from HK$6.1 and downgraded its rating to
"hold" from "outperform".
The research house said the downgrade reflects its likely widening NIM decline from 4Q,
which will cap its earnings growth in 2020. Daiwa said BankComm's NIM trend switched from
+15-19bps in 1Q-2Q to -4bps in 3Q.
Daiwa appreciates BankComm's long-term goal to strengthen its deposit franchise and
shrink the proportion of its interbank liability to mitigate its heavy reliance on
interbank funding, but it also sees near-term pressure from a likely widening NIM decline
from 4Q. It trimmed its 2020-21 forecasts and now expects 4% earnings growth for 2020-21.
(KL)