JP Morgan, DBS and Others Recommend "Buy" Rating for Central China New Life as its Interim Results Exceed Market Expectations

by ACN Newswire

HONG KONG, Sep 17, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) -  Central China New Life Limited (stock code: 9983) recently released it interim results, which revealed substantial growth in net profit driven by the expansion of its business scale. Moreover, the ongoing growth of third-party properties under its management and rapid growth of the company's "Jianye+" platform have provided a sound foundation for further development of its business going forward. The strong performance which exceeded market expectation has subsequently earned "Buy" or "Overweight" ratings from various security houses, among which DBS has also significantly increased its target price, which was originally set at HK$10.40, to HK$12.56. Details are as follows:

Recommendation   Target Price
DBS   Buy  HK$12.56 (Original Target: HK$10.40)
JP Morgan   Overweight   HK$13 (Maintain)
Haitong   Outperform   HK$15.9
CCBI   Outperform   HK$13.8 (Maintain)
BNP Paribas   Buy   HK$13.2
AMTD   Buy   HK$13.56
Guosheng   Maintain Buy   HK$14.3

Central China New Life's business consists of three major segments, namely, 1) property management and value-added services; 2) lifestyle services; and 3) commercial property management and consultation services. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the company's business growth has remained rapid. Furthermore, its income structure has been continuously optimized and its operating efficiency has been enhanced during the first half of 2020. During the period, the company's revenue increased by 56.1% to RMB1,061.2 million, as compared with the corresponding period of 2019. Profit attributable to shareholders of the company surged by 70.3% year-on-year to RMB183.8 million. Basic earnings per share amounted to RMB0.1870. To date, Bloomberg shows 11 out of 12 security houses covering Central China New Life give "buy" or equivalent ratings.

During the period, revenue from property management and value-added services jumped by 59.3% year-on-year to RMB843.8 million. The increase was mainly attributable to the growth in property management revenue resulting from an enlarged GFA under management. In addition, stronger business was seen in value-added services, such as sales agency and intelligent community which were able to generate greater revenue.

In the first half of 2020, the company implemented the "Large Regional Market Expansion" strategy. Correspondingly, its business focused on Henan and radiated to adjacent provinces. At the same time, it also expanded to include quality projects in other provinces in China, thereby steadily scaling upward its business. As at 30 June 2020, the GFA under management and contracted GFA reached 70.1 million sq. m. and 144.4 million sq. m. respectively, representing respective growth of 23.1% and 25.9% as compared with the end of 2019. During the period, new contracted GFA relating to Central China Real Estate increased by 16% H/H, while new contracted GFA from third parties increased by 41% H/H, which reflected the company's ability to obtain third-party contracts.

During the period, lifestyle services of Central China New Life have expanded rapidly and the coverage of the "Jianye+" platform has continued to grow. The company's revenue from lifestyle services grew by 51.6% year-on-year to RMB172.8 million. The upsurge was mainly attributable to the significant increase in registered users of its "Jianye+" platform, from approximately 1,547,700 as at the end of last year to approximately 2,805,500 as at the end of June this year, as well as a rise in consumption among registered users. The rapid growth of the "Jianye+" platform will provide further room for future development of the company's lifestyle services.

The company's commercial property management and consultation services consist of hotel management, commercial asset management and cultural tourism complex management. Revenue from this business segment has increased by 22.2% year-on-year to RMB44.6 million. The company's commercial property management business was launched in March 2019. Affected by the epidemic, the growth of cultural tourism businesses that are involved in such operations as hotels, tourism, commercial management and specially themed small towns have all faced relatively great pressure in general. Nevertheless, with the synergy achieved by leveraging the "Jianye+" platform, the company has still managed to develop new growth and profit drivers in this business segment.

Central China New Life will strengthen efforts to expand its property management business in the second half year by focusing on mergers and acquisitions. It will also focus on increasing investment in intelligent properties and integrating organizational management to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Since the company went public in May to raise funds, it has ample cash on hand, which will be conducive for executing its future merger and acquisition plans.



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