China’s biggest banks are set for a boost in valuations as analysts expect a strengthening economy will fuel loan demand and margins.
Nomura Holdings and Huatai Securities Co are among those that raised target prices this week after Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and its two largest peers posted better-than-expected profits, which grew at the fastest pace in three years.
“We definitely believe more re-rating will be in front of us,” Victor Wang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at China International Capital Corp, told Bloomberg Television. “Most of the time, banking is not a bad business when macro stabilises.
The numbers will be getting better going forward.” He predicts an 89% upside gain for ICBC shares and 79% increase for China Construction Bank Corp. Nomura’s analysts raised ICBC’s price target to HK$10.42 from HK$8.86 on a better operating outlook and expect the bad-loan cleanup to accelerate in the next two years.
China’s Big Five, which control more than a third of the nation’s $40tn in banking assets, are staging a comeback thanks to improvements in borrowers’ repayment ability and higher demand for loans. They are also benefiting from President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on excessive debt, which is forcing smaller banks to turn to big lenders to borrow money.
Banking shares rallied in Shanghai and were trading mixed in Hong Kong as the benchmark Hang Seng Index sank. ICBC’s stock has gained 8.6% in Hong Kong this year while Agricultural Bank of China surged more than 23%. Still, the top lenders are trading at an average 0.76 times their forecast book value. ICBC’s net interest margin widened by 6 basis points while the spread expanded by 3 basis points at AgBank. Both banks’ nonperforming loan ratios dropped for the first time since at least 2013, and senior executives said at press conferences that they expect the benign asset quality trend to continue.
Together with Bank of China and Bank of Communications Co, combined profits at the Big Five probably grew about 3% last year, the fastest expansion since 2014, according to analysts’ estimates. That’s projected to pick up to about 8% in 2018 as rising global interest rates boost margins.
Their results are partly flattered by a poor 2015 and 2016, when concerns intensified about rising bad loans across China’s financial sector. Asset quality has since improved as economic growth accelerated in 2017 for the first time in seven years. Another sign of optimism emerged this month, when the regulator was said to have lowered bad-loan provisions to a minimum 120% from the previous 150%, freeing up more cash for lending.
“The message is the banking regulator is more or less confident that the worst time for NPL buildup is now already behind us,” Wang said. “We are at the turning point that margins will go higher from now. We have strong demand for credit, however the supply is tightly controlled. That helps the banks to raise the loan yield.”
ICBC’s bad-loan coverage ratio, which measures provisions against soured credit, climbed to 154% by December. At AgBank, the buffer surged to 208% while CCB’s coverage ratio rose to 171%.
Pedestrians walk past the headquarters of Nomura Holdings in Tokyo (file). Nomura and Huatai Securities are among those that raised target prices last week after Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and its two largest peers posted better-than-expected profits, which grew at the fastest pace in three years.
