Founder: Maintaining a "recommend" rating for CTIHK (06055) driven by internal and external growth.

Founder released a research report stating that CTIHK (06055) is the only listed platform under China Tobacco International, with exclusive operating rights in multiple businesses. The traditional business is stable, and the new business is growing rapidly. It is expected that the company's revenue for 2026-2027 will be 14.2/15.5/16.7 billion yuan, corresponding to 15.8/17.1/18.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, yoy+8%/+9%/+8%; net profit attributable to the parent company will be 0.97/1.16/1.32 billion yuan, corresponding to 1.12/1.35/1.53 billion Hong Kong dollars, yoy+14%/+20%/14%. In addition, the company is strategically positioned as a platform responsible for capital operations and international business expansion within the China Tobacco system. With rich overseas and offshore assets within the China Tobacco system, there is a possibility of injecting assets into the listed platform in the future, which may increase the profit of the listed company and catalyze valuation. The "recommended" rating is maintained. Founder's main points are as follows: CTIHK is the only tobacco business listed company within the China Tobacco system, with exclusive operation creating licensing barriers. Founded in 2004, after completing the restructuring in 2018, the company has exclusive operating rights for four major businesses including tobacco leaf import, tobacco leaf export, cigarette export, and new cigarette export within designated areas, creating deep licensing barriers. In 2021, the acquisition of China Tobacco Brazil expanded overseas and extended the industry chain. With stable growth in existing businesses and continuous expansion of new businesses, the company's revenue and profits grew by 10%/43% year-on-year in 2024, and continued to grow in 2025. Tobacco leaf import and export businesses are the company's foundation, with revenue growth and profit improvement. In the tobacco leaf import business, the company purchases tobacco leaf products from countries or regions such as Brazil, the United States, and Argentina, and sells them to China Tobacco International as the sole supplier (the only entity qualified to import overseas tobacco leaves in China), pricing based on cost plus pricing. From 2018 to 2025, the overall volume and price of the company's tobacco leaf import business increased in tandem, and the profitabil...