Bank of America Securities expects the net profit of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to drop 22% year-on-year to 2.7 billion yuan in the first quarter.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bank of America Securities released a research report stating that it reaffirmed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) “buy” rating and lowered the 2024-2026 profit forecast by 4%-7% due to lower expected investment returns. It is expected that no major reforms will be carried out this year due to changes in the management of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but there will still be measures to support the market. The target price will be lowered from HK$302 to HK$290.
According to the report, the company will announce its results for the first quarter of this year at the end of this month. It is expected that its net profit will drop 22% year on year to 2.7 billion yuan, while the first quarter of 2023 was 3.4 billion yuan, the second-highest quarterly net profit in history. It also saw an improvement in March trading volume. This may drive the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's transaction fees for the second quarter of 2024.