Bank of America Corporation-Merrill Lynch maintained Tianjin Port Development (3382.HK) neutral rating; lowered its target price to HK $3.40 from HK $3.60, after cutting its 2009 profit forecast by 36 per cent because of poor performance in the first nine months of 2009.

The bank said the biggest uncertainties in Tianjin Port had been eliminated after the completion of the share placement and remained bullish on Tianjin Port's fundamentals because of the strong bulk cargo throughput in 2010 (thanks to strong domestic demand for goods). China's container throughput rebounded. But the bank believes that Tianjin Port is now fully valued and is now trading at 24 times 2010 earnings and 20 times 2011 earnings, which is 21 / 18 times higher than the industry average.

Tianjin Port fell 5.41 per cent to HK $2.80 on Friday.