Morgan Stanley: Maintains "overweight" rating on CMOC Group Limited (03993) with a target price of 8.3 Hong Kong dollars.

Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that CMOC Group Limited (03993) announced its preliminary profit forecast for last year to be between RMB 12.8 billion and 14.2 billion Chinese Yuan, implying a profit of RMB 4.5 billion to 5.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, higher than the market's expectation of about RMB 3.5 billion. This is believed to be due to an increase in sales volume and the effective tax rate returning to normal from the high levels in the second and third quarters. Therefore, the company's "hold" rating is maintained with a target price of HKD 8.3 for its H shares. The report stated that CMOC is expected to produce 600,000 to 660,000 tons of copper this year, roughly the same as the actual production of 650,000 tons last year. Morgan Stanley believes that the company's final production this year can reach the expected upper limit, due to a low base in the first quarter of last year, as well as ongoing equipment upgrades in certain areas of TFM in the Democratic Republic of Congo.