The Zhitong Finance App learned that Daiwa released a research report stating that it maintained the “outperform the market” rating of unified enterprise China (00220) and raised the target price from HK$7.2 to HK$8.4. The company announced its full-year results and held an analyst meeting yesterday. Overall revenue was higher than the bank's expectations, but net profit was 2% lower than the bank's forecast, and gross margin was 1.2 percentage points lower than the bank's forecast.

The bank pointed out that the company is cautious about sales expenses this year. If peers have intense discount campaigns, they may not follow suit. The focus is still on expanding catering channels, penetrating into lower-tier cities, and brand investment. The bank raised its revenue forecast for this year and next two years by 8% to 10%, and its net profit forecast by 1% to 9% to reflect likely stronger revenue growth than expected, and raised its gross margin forecast by 0.3 percentage points to reflect lower PET cost assumptions for packaging materials.