[ET Net News Agency, 3 January 2020] Citi Research lifted its target price for Wharf
REIC (01997) to HK$57 from HK$53.5 and maintained its "buy" rating.
With HK social unrest seeing continuous positive developments, the research house
believes Harbour City (HC) and Times Square (TS) have seen the worst tenant sales
performance in 2H 2019. It expects both HC and TS to see sequential improvement in tenant
sales through 2020, which means the decline will become less negative in 1H 2020 and turn
into double-digit positive growth in 2H 2020.
Given the stock is trading near trough NAV discount, with an attractive 4.4% dividend
yield, Citi said a continuous retail sales improvement will be the key catalyst to drive a
re-rating. (KL)