October 31st, Guolonghui: Bank of America Securities released research reports indicating that Minsheng Bank's pre-provision operating profit (PPoP) year-on-year decline narrowed from 7.5% in the first half of this year to 6.6% in the first three quarters of this year; net income saw a year-on-year decline expanding from 5.5% to 9.2%; net assets return on investment decreased by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year to 6.5%. As for the third quarter, the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio (CET 1) fell by 5 basis points quarter-on-quarter, but increased by 25 basis points year-on-year to 9.3%. Bank of America Securities believes that the increase in provisions in the third quarter of the Bank of China still shows its asset quality and provision pressure, as its growth is weak, equity return on investment is weak, and provision coverage ratio is low, so it set its target price at HK$2.87, reiterating an 'underperform' rating.