CICC: Maintains "Outperform" rating on WH GROUP (00288) with target price raised to HK$7.8

CICC released a research report stating that considering the proposed spin-off and independent listing of Smithfield by WH Group (00288), the bank expects the overall valuation level of WH Group to be boosted and market liquidity to improve. The target price was raised by nearly 10% to 7.8 Hong Kong dollars, with a maintained "outperform" rating. The bank stated that it is maintaining the company's 2024 profit unchanged and expects the ton profit of the US meat products business in 2025 to further improve under product structure optimization and cost efficiency. The bank expects the company to have a net profit of about $1.35 billion in 2024. The bank raised the core net profit for 2025 by 3% to nearly $1.47 billion and introduced a core net profit for 2026 of $1.57 billion.