According to Zhitong Finance APP, Citigroup released a research report stating that it maintains a 'buy' rating on CM Bank (03968), includes it in the 30-day negative watchlist and negative catalyst watchlist, and sets a target price of HKD 41.52. The company's stock price has risen by 32% since the beginning of this year, outperforming the four major state-owned commercial banks with a growth range of 20% to 27%, partly because of the support policies for mainland real estate and CM Bank is seen as the best representative of banking industry that is involved in the real estate business on the mainland.

The bank stated that China Merchants Bank (CMB) was included in the 30-day negative observation and negative catalysis observation mainly because it was estimated that the net profit in the mid-term will decrease by 1.5% year-on-year. The bank may fall behind expectations in net profit in the second quarter of this year due to pressure on mortgage yields, debt reduction of mainland households, deterioration in the quality of retail financial products, and higher insurance costs compared to peers. As CMB's profit growth in the first half of this year is not expected to accelerate significantly compared to the four major banks, the bank believes that it will be difficult to prove that CMB's H-share premium valuation is reasonable. It predicts a market-to-book ratio of 0.81 times, compared with the forecast market-to-book ratios of the four major banks ranging from only 0.39 times to 0.42 times.