According to the financial app, Citigroup released a research report stating that it gives a 'neutral' rating to Bank of East Asia (00023), with a target price of HKD 9.5. The management maintains the guidance of a year-on-year decrease in credit cost in 2024 and suggests that the non-performing loan ratio may remain stable in the second half of this year. It is expected that the net interest margin in the second half of 2024 will remain stable. It also indicated that the pace of repurchase may accelerate in the second half of this year, providing certain support to the stock price.

Citigroup stated that Bank of East Asia may complete a buyback plan of 0.5 billion yuan by the end of this year, which means that the bank may carry out buybacks of more than 0.3 billion yuan in the remaining time of this year. There are less than 100 trading days left this year, and Bank of East Asia may need to buy more than 3 million yuan per day, which is about one-third of its average daily trading volume in the second quarter of this year.