October 30th, Grulon Report: According to the Citibank report, cm bank's pre-provision operating income for the first three quarters fell by 2.7% year-on-year to 168.3 billion yuan, while the net profit after tax for the same period fell by 0.6% year-on-year to 113.2 billion yuan, which is 80% of the market's full-year forecast. Quarterly pre-provision operating income increased by 1.6% year-on-year, reversing the 2.9% year-on-year decline in the second quarter; while the net profit after tax for the same period increased by 0.8% year-on-year, reversing the 0.7% year-on-year decline in the second quarter, but still dragged down by an 8.5% year-on-year increase in provisions. The quarterly return on assets and return on equity both fell by 10 basis points and 1.77 percentage points year-on-year, to 1.32% and 15.68% respectively. Citibank continues to prefer cm bank, as it benefits from the real estate sector and has limited exposure to local government debt risks, benefiting from fiscal stimulus policies. Cm bank also provides upside potential in retail sentiment and a turnaround in the A-share market, including increased fee income from capital market-related trades, investors withdrawing time deposits to enter the stock market, and increased demand for consumer loans due to stock market and mortgage repayment relaxation. The bank also noted that compared to the six major state-owned banks, cm bank has limited equity fundraising risks and provides a competitive dividend yield. The bank currently rates cm bank as a "buy" with a target price of HK$38.58.