by winston » Fri Sep 09, 2022 10:55 am
China Strategy – Chinese banks to underperform amid weakening fundamentals
While Chinese banks as a sector posted in-line earnings in 2Q22, a diverging trend in earnings growth emerged between large state-owned banks (with growth came in below expectation) and major joint-stock banks (JSBs) and regional banks (with growth came in stronger-than-expected).
That said, underlying fundamentals for most banks have moderated at a faster-than-expected pace, owing to sharp sequential net interest margin (NIM) compression, weak fee income, and higher-than-expected growth in operating expenses (especially for large banks).
2Q22 saw a steeper-than-expected NIM compression with NIMs of major JSBs compressed more than those of large state-owned banks mainly driven by declining loan yield.
Going into 2H22, the NIM compression is expected to continue, though at a milder pace, driven by a combination of loan prime rate (LPR) cuts, weak loan demand, regulatory guidance on loan pricing, a modest recovery of retail credit, and a better managed deposit cost.
NIM is expected to come under pressure in 1Q23, reflecting the impact of cumulative cuts in the 5-year LPR and the re-pricing of mortgages.
Overall non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained flat sequentially in 2Q22 but gross NPL formation rate edged up amid challenging macro conditions in the same period.
The exposure to developers’ loan remains a key concern. Overall developers’ loan increased by about 3% half-on-half (HoH) and non-performing developers’ loans increased materially by 75 basis points (bps) HoH to 3.2% as of Jun 22.
We expect Chinese banks to continue underperforming the broad market in the near-term in light of deteriorating fundamentals – NIM compression and concerns on developers’ loan NPL.
A key event to watch out for in the coming quarter would be the 20th Party Congress, which is scheduled to be held on 16 October 2022, and whether there could be a stepping up of easing policy support.
While Chinese banks’ relatively high 8-9% dividend yield would be appealing to income-oriented investors, we view Chinese Telcos as an alternative.
Within Chinese banks, we prefer Bank of China (BOC, 3988 HK, Fair value HKD3.5) on the back of its high dividend yield of around 9% and its relatively higher foreign currency exposure which could benefit from USD rate hike cycle.
In the medium- and long-term, we favour banks with strong retail business and Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC, 1658 HK, Fair value HKD5.5) as the preferred play on the back of strong retail business, robust fee income growth and relative attractive valuation.
Source: OCBC
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"