JPMorgan retains "buy" rating for BOC Hong Kong

Published: 06 Oct 2009 19:48:10 PST

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Oct. 7, 2009 (China Knowledge) - U.S.-based financial holding company JPMorgan Chase & Co has again assigned a rating of "buy" for shares of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd<2388>, the Hong Kong subsidiary of Bank of China<601988><3988>, and has set the target price at HK$18.1 per share, sources reported.

BOC Hong Kong, the third-largest lender in the city, booked a net profit of HK$6.69 billion for the first half of this year, 5.6% less than its profit in the same period of last year due to a drop in interest income, according to its interim financial report.

However, the lender said that the figure reflected a major improvement compared with the second half of last year, when it recorded a net loss of HK$3.75 billion.