GLONGHUI, August 16 | Citibank released a report saying that Hong Kong's China Gas's net profit in the first half of the year fell short of expectations and reiterated its “sale” rating. Citibank said it raised its net gas profit forecast for the full year of this year by 5% to HK$6.25 billion, but due to the anticipated slowdown in the growth of the mainland's natural gas business, it also lowered its net profit forecast for 2024 to 2025 by almost 5% to 7% to reach 6.24 billion yuan and HK$6.734 billion. The bank pointed out that the most important thing is that under the tight cash flow of the company, it does not expect to increase dividends per share or resume dividend shares in the future. After cutting profit forecasts, it also lowered the target price from HK$6 to HK$5.5 accordingly, indicating that it is relatively more optimistic about its subsidiary Hong Kong and China Smart Energy and believes it has better growth prospects and a lower valuation level.