HK Stock Market Move | LEE & MAN PAPER (02314) increased by over 6% as industry peer ND PAPER announced positive earnings, and Citigroup raised the company's profit forecast.

LEE & MAN PAPER (02314) rose over 6%, as of the latest update, it increased by 6.43% to 3.64 Hong Kong dollars, with a turnover of 68.5389 million Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, on January 28th, leading paper company ND PAPER released a performance forecast, expecting to achieve a profit of about 2.15 billion to 2.25 billion yuan for the six months ended December 31, 2025, an increase of 216.0% to 230.7% year-on-year. After deducting perpetual bond interest, the performance is expected to be 1.95 billion to 2.05 billion yuan, an increase of 315% to 337% year-on-year. Citi research report pointed out that it raised the rating of LEE & MAN PAPER from "sell" to "buy" and raised the target price from 2.4 Hong Kong dollars to 4.2 Hong Kong dollars. Citi stated that due to the profit announcement from ND PAPER, they have raised LEE & MAN PAPERs profit forecast for 2025 to 2027 by 5% to 7%. Although LEE & MAN PAPER may not have as strong an increase as ND PAPER, the profit announcement from ND PAPER indicates that the industry's profit capacity will not deteriorate further in the second half of 2025 compared to the first half.