BOCI Securities: Maintains "Buy" rating on China Merchants Bank (03968) with target price raised to HK$49.72

Bank of China International has released a research report stating that it maintains a "buy" rating for China Merchants Bank (03968), with a target price raised from 41.8 Hong Kong dollars to 49.72 Hong Kong dollars. China Merchants Bank announced its preliminary performance report for last year, with a significant increase in profit in the last quarter and excellent asset quality, which is in line with the bank's expectations. According to the preliminary performance, China Merchants Bank's net profit attributable to shareholders for last year increased by 1.2% year-on-year, which was approximately 0.7% lower than expected by the bank. It was noted that its net profit attributable to shareholders for the fourth quarter increased by 7.6% year-on-year, while it increased by 0.8% year-on-year for the third quarter, and decreased by 0.6% year-on-year for the first three quarters. At the same time, the report stated that China Merchants Bank's asset quality remains excellent, with non-performing loans only showing a slight increase in the fourth quarter, and the provision for non-performing loans is still maintained at a high level. It is believed that China Merchants Bank's net return on average assets for last year will remain at the highest level among its peers.