UBS Group released a research report stating that it has raised its target price for Hong Kong Telecommunications-SS (06823) from HKD 12.1 to HKD 12.5 and maintains a "buy" rating. The company paid a dividend of HKD 0.3292 per share, an increase of 2.7% YoY, which is in line with the bank's annual forecast. The forecast dividend yield for the current unit price is 8.6%.
The bank pointed out that the service revenue of Hong Kong Telecommunications in the first half of the year increased by 2.9% YoY to HKD 15.7 billion. The pre-tax profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 2.6% YoY to HKD 6.2 billion. Both are roughly in line with market expectations. net income increased by 1.9% YoY to HKD 2 billion, which is 5% lower than market expectations and may be due to higher-than-expected interest expenses.