The Zhitong Finance App learned that Citi released a research report stating that it maintains the “sale and sale” rating of Beijing Holdings Water (00371), which also indicates that the increase in water bills appears to be limited. The company's net profit forecast for this year and next year was lowered, and the target price was raised from HK$1.4 to HK$1.45.

According to the report, the company's net profit rose 60.5% year on year to RMB 1,896 million last year, 15% lower than market expectations. Among them, it fell 30.4% year on year to RMB 339 million in the second half of the year. Excluding one-time projects, pre-tax profit fell 5.1% to 4,028 billion yuan in 2023, and financial costs increased 18.8% to 3.261 billion yuan.

In addition, Beijing Holdings Water's final interest rate reached 0.087 yuan, and the annual dividend payment was 0.157 yuan, all unchanged. The dividend payout rate fell to 78.4%, and the goal is that there will be no reduction in dividends this year. According to the bank, the Group's capital expenditure was high last year, the debt ratio rose to 118%, and this year's budget capital expenditure fell to 6 billion yuan. Although the group aims to improve cash flow, the bank believes this will not be easy.