[ET Net News Agency, 29 June 2020] Daiwa Research tweaked its target price for China
Merchants Bank (CMB)(03968) to HK$44 from HK$45 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house noted that CMB's management reiterated its long-term light-bank
strategy and aims to deliver high-quality earnings growth in 2020-22.
Daiwa sees its retail AUM (assets under management) being the key to securing low
funding costs for its NIM and boosting its capital-light income. It believes CMB's retail
AUM will likely continue to see double-digit growth in the coming years, even with a high
base of CNY7.9tn at end-1Q.
Daiwa factored in higher provisions on its non-standard credit asset investments. This
results in a 2-4% downward earnings revisions for 2020-22. (KL)