Huatai Securities: CM Bank's operations are expected to improve, raising the target price to 55.37 yuan

Huatai Securities research report indicates that China Merchants Bank (03968.HK) is expected to have a year-on-year revenue growth of 0.01% in 2025, and a year-on-year net profit attributable to shareholders growth of 1.21%. The company's performance shows marginal improvement, with a slight rebound in net interest income growth, a stable non-performing loan ratio, and overall solid asset quality.

Huatai Securities believes that due to the company's retail strategy having a moat effect, it expects operational improvement for the company, maintaining a "Buy" rating for China Merchants Bank (600036.SH) A shares, with the target price slightly raised from RMB 55.42 to RMB 50.55; maintaining an "Overweight" rating for H shares, with the target price slightly raised from HKD 54.59 to HKD 55.37.

Huatai Securities also noted that with the marginal rebound in non-interest income growth, it forecasts earnings per share of RMB 5.75, RMB 5.96, and RMB 6.22 for 2025 to 2027 respectively; the forecast for net asset value per share (BVPS) in 2026 is RMB 49.56, corresponding to a price-to-book ratio of 0.76 for A shares and 0.84 for H shares