Futuress released a research report stating that it maintains a "buy" rating for boc hong kong (02388), raising the target price from 26.5 HKD to 27 HKD. The bank continues to be bullish on the international bank stanchart (02888) and hsbc holdings (00005), followed by Singaporean banks over Hong Kong banks. Additionally, the bank expects the prime rate to fall to 5% in the first quarter of next year, maintaining prudence regarding asset quality.
The bank pointed out that boc hong kong's third-quarter performance confirmed its view that market expectations are overly conservative. Although uncertainty may limit the upward potential of the pe in the short term, the medium-term outlook remains relatively robust. The bank believes that hsbc's non-performing loans will continue to increase in the second half of 2024, reiterating its preference for international banks like stanchart and hsbc holdings which rank higher than boc hong kong, followed by hang seng bank (00011).
。
Futuress also mentioned that boc hong kong may announce the results of its capital review in the next financial report and raise the common stock dividend range from 40% to 60% to 50% to 70%, while share buybacks may continue. Hang seng bank may need to increase its payout ratio to maintain the quarterly dividend increase; it is also open to additional actions.