The Zhitong Finance App learned that Nomura released a research report stating that the target price was lowered from HK$324.78 to HK$322.28 while maintaining the “buy” rating on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388). The bank predicts that the company's revenue for the first quarter will generally meet expectations. Profit may fall slightly below expectations, due to falling profit margins. In addition, the bank's spot stock transaction fee revenue during the forecast period fell 20% year on year to 668 million yuan, up 14% month on month; clearing and settlement fees fell 14% year on year to 828 million yuan, up 7% month on month, based on the assumption that average daily transactions in the Hong Kong stock market fell 23% year on year (up 8% year on year), and Northbound Connect's transaction rose 17% year on year (up 12% year on month).

The report mentioned that the bank predicted that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's revenue for the first quarter would drop 11% year on year to 4.95 billion yuan, up 2% month on month, in line with market expectations. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange's main business revenue for the first quarter is expected to fall 8% year on year to 4.6 billion yuan, up 2% month on month, due to low stock market trading. Net profit forecast fell 18% year on year to 2.81 billion yuan, up 8% month on month, lower than market expectations of 1%. EBITDA is expected to fall 17% year over year to 3.51 billion yuan, up 8% month on month, lower than market expectations of 2%. The EBITDA rate is expected to fall 4.7 percentage points to 71% year on year, up 3.8 percentage points from month to month, but 1.3 percentage points lower than market expectations.