[ET Net News Agency, 14 January 2020] Goldman Sachs raised its target price for Hong
Kong Exchanges (HKEX)(00388) to HK$255 from HK$240 and maintained its "neutral" rating.
The research house expects velocity to recover gradually over the next few quarters on
the back of macro data recovery. HKEX share price has tended to outperform when turnover
velocity is rising.
It noted that HKEX is awaiting regulatory approval since March 2019 for the launch of
MSCI China A index futures. It estimated a potential upside of 5%-8% to 2020 EPS once the
new futures product matures (3-5 years), and if the product achieves global/HK penetration
benchmarks.
Meanwhile, HKEX expects 40-50 Chinese ADR companies to be eligible for such secondary
listings in HK. Goldman said HKEX may see an additional 2%-3% upside in volumes.
Goldman revised up its 2021/22 EPS forecasts by 3%/8% to factor in better trading
volumes for both cash equity and derivatives, it also fine-tuned its 2019 EPS to
incorporate December trading data. (KL)