[ET Net News Agency, 3 December 2020] HSBC Global Research lifted its target price for
Link REIT (00823) to HK$87.5 from HK$82.2 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house believes Link REIT is one of the key beneficiaries from the recovery
of the non-discretionary retail market in Hong Kong, thanks to the gradual easing of local
social distancing measures related to COVID-19.
Investors have been too pessimistic about their business resiliency and the DPU growth
prospects. Since April, there have been over 200 new leases joining its portfolio. In the
next few months, HSBC expects its tenants' sales performance to improve gradually. Its
overall tenants' sales performance declined 11.6% from April to September, outperforming
the overall Hong Kong market by 14.3ppt. HSBC expects DPU growth in 2021-23 to be 1%-4%.
(KL)