The Zhitong Finance App learned that Daiwa released a research report saying that the valuation of Xinyi Solar (00968) is lower than that of its peers, and that the downside risk is limited. It raised its investment rating to “hold” to “outperform the market” and raised its profit forecast for the 2024-25 fiscal year by about 2% to 5% to predict that the value of the enterprise is about 10 times EBITDA this year. The target price was lowered from HK$8.4 to HK$5.5. The bank pointed out that at current prices, Xinyi Solar provides a dividend return of about 6.1%, which is very attractive. The company's dividend payout ratio was 47.8% last year. Furthermore, since management expects the proportion of HKD loans linked to HIBOR to decline this year, the RMB loan ratio is expected to rise accordingly.

The report mentioned that the company announced results at the end of last month. Among them, the performance for the second half of last year exceeded market expectations. The gross margin for the second half of the year rebounded 11.2 percentage points to 26.4% compared to the first half of the year, reflecting the effectiveness of cost management measures during the period. At the same time, management expects a relatively good business situation in the first quarter of this year. The average sales price of photovoltaic glass fell only slightly during the period of weak demand in February. Considering the low base for the first half of 2023, the bank expects a strong year-on-year rebound in the first half of this year.