UBS: Raises GREENTOWN CHINA (03900) rating to "buy" and significantly raises target price to 19 Hong Kong dollars.

UBS released a research report stating that they have upgraded their rating on GREENTOWN CHINA (03900) from "neutral" to "buy", and raised the target price from 10 Hong Kong dollars to 19 Hong Kong dollars. The bank indicated that although there has been a recent recovery in the sales of domestic properties, they still expect the market to lower its forecasts for developers. GREENTOWN CHINA recently issued a profit warning, expecting a 50% year-on-year decline in profit last year, with the bank estimating a net profit margin of around 1%. The bank stated that as sales in first-tier and core second-tier cities in mainland China stabilize, they expect the group's net profit margin to increase this year. They have raised their profit margin forecasts for the next two years by 1 to 2 percentage points and revised their profit forecasts to an increase of 5% to 28%.