BOCI Says CHINA TOWER Offers Defensive Shareholder Returns, Keeps Buy Rating
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.BOCI maintains a Buy rating for CHINA TOWER, citing defensive shareholder returns despite interim revenue dipping 1.8% YoY to RMB48.7 billion due to tower business pressure. Non-tower revenues grew significantly, and the interim dividend rose 44.3% YoY with a payout ratio target of at least 77%. BOCI adjusted 2026-2027 revenue forecasts down slightly but raised net profit estimates, lowering the target price from HKD13.26 to HKD11.64.
BOCI published a research report covering CHINA TOWER (00788.HK) -0.440 (-4.527%) Short selling $35.20M; Ratio 27.171% , of whihc interim revenue dipped 1.8% YoY to RMB48.7 billion, dampened by a 6.7% decline in tower business revenue, reflecting pressure on the tower business from operators' network optimization and simplified base station upgrades.
During the period, revenue from the two wing businesses mounted 12.8% and 17.3% YoY respectively, driving the overall performance of non-tower businesses.
CHINA TOWER's interim dividend increased 44.3% YoY. Management expected the payout ratio for the year to be no lower than 77%. BOCI believed the group will provide defensive shareholder returns.
Following the interim results, BOCI trimmed its revenue forecasts for 2026 and 2027 by 2.3% and 4.7% respectively, while raising net profit forecasts by 2% and 6.6%. It maintained a Buy rating and cut the TP from HKD13.26 to HKD11.64.
(HK stocks quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.Short Selling Data as at 2026-08-11 16:25.)