[ET Net News Agency, 29 December 2020] Citi Research raised its target price for Link
REIT (00823) to HK$77.9 from HK$73.8 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house views Link REIT's portfolio as defensive even under continuous
challenges from social unrest since 2H 2019 and COVID-19. That said, investors need to
reset their expectations on its DPU (distribution per unit), which should be relatively
flattish over FY2021-23 (especially for FY2023, which unlike FY2020, FY2021 and FY2022
won't have the 14 cents discretionary distribution announced by the company).
Citi also sees its post-COVID organic growth from HK retail to be relatively modest (3%)
due to a likely lukewarm job market and soft salary growth outlook on lower-income HK
residents. However, the current dividend yield at 4.1% looks attractive compared with the
10-year US Treasury at 0.9%. (KL)