[ET Net News Agency, 19 December 2019] Morgan Stanley lowered its target price for
China Gas Holdings (00384) to HK$25 from HK$30 and double downgraded its rating to
"underweight" from "overweight".
The research house said the downgrade reflects (1) slower-than-expected gas sales volume
growth, (2) an increasing portion of unsustainable earnings from one-off upfront gas
connection income, (3) uncertainties and limited growth opportunities from its Northeast
China city gas projects even after the arrival of Russian gas, and (5) ongoing regulatory
changes regarding city gas connection fee levels and township coal-to-gas subsidies.
Morgan incorporated FY2019 results, and cut its recurring earnings estimates 4.7% for
FY2020 and 2.5% for FY2021. (KL)