The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bank of America Securities released a research report stating that it reaffirmed China Everbright Bank (06818)'s “outperforming the market” rating, downgraded the earnings forecast per share for this year and next two years by 9% to 11%, and lowered the target price from HK$2.45 to HK$2.35.

According to the report, the company's net profit fell 9% year on year to RMB 40.8 billion last year, mainly dragged down by the company's increased provision to deal with non-performing assets. Total provisions for the fourth quarter of last year and the whole year increased 68% and 3%, respectively. The dividend payout rate increased 0.3 percentage points year over year to 28.4%, but the final interest rate fell 8.9% year over year to 17.3 cents yuan.