Daiwa maintains its 1200.HK buy rating with an unchanged target price of HK $5.01, or 10 times forecast earnings for fiscal 12, and still has HK $0.80 a share in cash.

Although Wachovia reported a 36 per cent drop in interim net profit from a year earlier to HK $128 million, its share price could rise as the performance actually improved from the previous half-year, with the estate agency reporting a net loss of HK $68 million in the second half of 111. and interim results accounted for 58 per cent of Thomson Reuters' full-year profit forecast of HK $222 million.

Daiwa said that given that the spot property market is likely to be better in the second half of this year than in the first half, the bank believes the market may raise its profit forecast for Wachovia.

Wachovia fell 3.1 per cent to HK $4.31 before Friday's results.