BOCI Securities: Raise the target price of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (00386.HK) to HKD 4.78, reiterate "Hold" rating.

According to the Zhixing Finance APP, China International Capital Corporation has released a research report stating that, according to International Financial Reporting Standards, China Petrochemical Corporation (00386.HK) saw its net profit in the first half of the year decrease by 36% year-on-year to 23.8 billion RMB, which is 8% higher than the bank's expectations. The difference is mainly due to higher profits from its exploration and production departments, refining department, as well as profits from joint ventures and associates being higher than expected. Due to the expected drop in oil prices, the bank forecasts a quarterly decline of 12% in the company's profits in the second half of 2025. The bank has raised its profit forecasts for 2025-2027 by 3-6% and raised the target price from 4.59 HKD to 4.78 HKD, reiterating a "hold" rating.